Azerbaijan busine journalism training launches for a six year

After two successful years of working with Azerbaijan's journalists, the business journalism programme launches for a third year with a week of online training led by the Thomson Foundation in Baku.

The Business Journalism Project aims to develop the skills of journalists in covering the oil-rich country's expanding business sector.

The project is led by the British Council Azerbaijan, with support for the third year running from Pasha Bank.

Over the coming months, 12 journalists selected from the country's major broadcast, print and online media will take part in three weeks of journalism training with the Thomson Foundation in Azerbaijan in addition to regular English language classes with the British Council.

Previously, the programme was funded by energy multinational BP which supported the training from 2008 to 2010.

Competition Competition for places on the programme was intense following the success and prestige of the programme in recent years.

Business journalists working in TV, print and online came through an extensive interview process to secure a place on the course.

Once on the course this year's participants have the opportunity to win further training with the Thomson Foundation.

Thomson Foundation director of operations, Hosam El Nagar, said: This time the Azerbaijani journalists will be competing for two Pasha-Bank sponsored places on our summer course 2014. It will be very exciting to meet the winners and to see their contribution to the cohort. They will help enrich the course both technically and culturally.

An opening week of training in November was led by Thomson Foundation trainer and consultant Dan Mason.

Multimedia techniques The training provided a foundation in multimedia techniques for covering business issues, including research and monitoring tools, website management, online writing, photography, audio, video, data visualisation and social media.

Dan Mason said he had seen how the previous programmes had helped to inspire journalists at an important stage in their careers.

But it's not just about journalism, he said. Being able to speak English is an increasingly important asset for journalists in Azerbaijan, especially those involved in covering the international business scene.

For me the magic is to see these groups of diverse journalists come together, learn from each other, develop confidence and stay in touch as their careers progress.

The second part of the Azerbaijan Business Journalism Programme takes place in Baku in January 2014.

-- Post by Thomson Foundation.

LINK:	http://www.thomsonfoundation.org/news-and-features/2013/12/03/azerbaij...
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