
Rebuilding Sudan's shattered economy after the 2019 uprising requires the country's journalists to understand and explain the key economic issues to their audiences.
To provide local media with the relevant skills, Thomson Foundation has delivered a 15 month programme to 24 journalists - initially in Khartoum but then via WhatsApp after Covid-19 struck.
Two journalists who set the standard were the prize winners in a competition to showcase how the participants had put into practice what they had learned.
Aya Alsabbagh, from Omdurman National Radio, topped her group with a broadcast aimed at proposing co-operative societies and collaboration by buyers and sellers as a way to reduce inflation.
Hanady Alnour, economics editor at Al-Intibaha newspaper, wrote her winning piece after travelling into the field to investigate farming projects where the harvest failed through lack of water.
Hanady Alnour - Al-Intibaha
Aya Alsabbagh - Omdurman National Radio
Promoted positive solutions Aya, a broadcaster for 10 years, said through the programme she learned that the economy is the backbone of life. It is the machinery that moves everyday life, politically and socially. The economy is responsible for the stability and security of livelihoods and it is the compass that steers countries and societies.
The judges praised her winning entry, a lively broadcast which used a variety of interviewees, explained the situation well for the audience and promoted positive solutions for citizens to help address their situation.
to reflect the real suffering of citizens
Hanady Alnbour, economics editor Al-Intibaha
Exceptional training opportunity Hanady, who has worked in print journalism for 12 years, said her investigation aimed to reflect the real suffering of citizens and to ensure the authorities got the message about irrigation projects needing to work.
She and a colleague travelled to the Fao region to investigate an irrigation project which had failed.
The judges were impressed by Hanady's determination to check the story out for herself and interview people on the ground to get her facts right.
She described the course as an exceptional training opportunity which taught her the importance of field work, how to select and question officials to tell economic stories and how to convey the issues in language understood by a wide audience.
The training was funded by the UK's Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, delivered in partnership with the British Council, Sudan and led by consultants James Gavin and Derek Ivens.
Related content
Messaging Apps: Tackling training in the pandemic
Covid-19 training in Sudan gets smart on WhatsApp
Sudan: Fair and accurate reporting in a time of crisis
Helen Scott Editorial Associate
About: Helen is an experienced trainer, consultant and project manager with a background in programme making and management. She is the Director of Thomson Foundation's Sudan programme.
Explore our projects across the globe
More from Thomson
10/05/2022
The moment you see your byline next to a story is a magical moment for any journalist. It brings with it a sense of relief, pride and hope that you'll get n...
06/05/2022
Success in our training programmes is measured in many ways but one of the most rewarding is reading or watching powerful stories produced by young journalists ...
25/04/2022
A pioneering band of creatives in Sudan are promoting social change through photography. The Thomson Media training for digital media entrepreneurs formed part ...
31/03/2022
Chemical and biological weapons may be banned but that has not stopped them being used in recent conflicts and for journalists reporting on the war in Ukraine k...
25/01/2022
The look of politics in Gagauzia, the small autonomous territory in southern Moldova, is decidedly male. Just two of the 35 members of local parliament are wome...
13/01/2022
Eleven women who participated in the inaugural Bettina Fund - Women in Media Leadership programme say it will transform their careers as they have gained confid...
18/12/2021
Stories on ecology and corruption, developed with Thomson Media support, are among the best investigations of the year.
By Dima Stoianov, media support expert ...
17/12/2021
Media in minority languages are relatively well developed, but one segment is significantly neglected in the six countries of the Western Balkans - Albania, Bos...
14/12/2021
Award-winning podcasters and journalists from the UK, India, Kenya, Australia and South Africa have joined forces to create what's believed to be the first ...
08/12/2021
The 7th of January 1991 was a big day for me. It was the day I started working as a radio journalist.
As someone who writes for a living, I'm supposed to a...
30/11/2021
PROFILE: Young Journalist Award 2021 winner
It was Kai Hui Wong's persistence in her investigations which led her to reveal abuses of power that convin...
30/11/2021
PROFILE: Young Journalist Award 2021 (environment) winner
It's hard to believe that Monika Mondal only started her journalism career last year at the hei...
17/11/2021
Three journalists - from India, and for the first time, Colombia and Malaysia - are the finalists for the 2021 Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award, in par...
06/11/2021
By Eileen Truax Eileen is a journalist specialising in migration working with Thomson Media on Moving Voices - a project looking at cross border issues affectin...
02/11/2021
As world leaders gather for COP26, it is a pertinent time to showcase the work o...
20/10/2021
In the latest in a series of personal reflections on womens role in the media, Luba Kassova, author of The Missing Perspectives of Women in News reflects on why...
16/10/2021
It's one of those points in the annual media calendar that early-career journalists await on the edge of their seats - and the moment has arrived.
We can ...
06/10/2021
A confidence gap is a constant theme when discussing the lack of women in leadership positions in media. Why do women feel that they dont merit their success mo...
20/09/2021
Chances are, most things that currently surround you have been produced following the principles of the linear economy. From the clothes that you wear to the ph...
13/09/2021
Journalists have a unique role to play in changing the narrative around the worlds environmental breakdown and becoming an essential part of the solution. Hear ...
08/09/2021
Twelve women aiming to become future leaders and entrepreneurs in Kenya's media. They were chosen from more than 500 who applied to join the inaugural progr...
23/08/2021
Profile: Reem Al Jeally, Sudan A matriarchal figure is painted on a concrete wall on Jamhuriya Avenue, next to the University of Khartoum. Her face is not depic...
17/08/2021
Applications are open for the Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award, one of the highlights of the UK's Foreign Press Association Awards. Closes Septembe...
30/07/2021
As he retires as Thomson Foundation chief executive - after a decade at the helm - Nigel Baker reflects on his previous 35-year career in journalism and lessons...
29/07/2021
Journalism is competitive. It can be a hard occupation to get into and it is just as hard to succeed in it. Thomson Foundations new online course News writing: ...
22/07/2021
On the 13th March, Kenya announced its first coronavirus case. The government announced measures to contain the spread. However, some of the measures proved dea...
15/07/2021
We are excited to announce the return of the prestigious Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award where young journalists, their work and their voices are at t...
30/06/2021
Women remain underrepresented in leadership roles in media organisations despite a higher proportion of female students graduating from university journalism co...
18/06/2021
Ahead of World Refugee Day, a day dedicated to refugees, their plight and their rights, we spotlight the work of Jordan-based filmmaker Jumana Saadeh and Kashmi...
04/06/2021
Women remain underrepresented in leadership roles in media organisations despite a higher proportion of female students graduating from university journalism co...
07/05/2021
They're subjects central to the way we live our lives and the survival of the planet and increasingly there's a link to many journalists' investigat...
28/04/2021
It may be a well-worn adage, but to a photojournalist a picture is worth every one of a beautifully-crafted thousand words. And in a digital age where that pict...
13/04/2021
By Henry O. Maina Government is not a machine, but a living thing. It falls, not under the theory of the universe, but under the theory of organic life. It is a...
30/03/2021
Thomson Foundation has appointed Caro Kriel - a veteran journalist with more than 20 years' experience in international news - as its new chief executive.
...
29/03/2021
Thomson Foundation is unique: the place where the cut and thrust of the news industry meets the more strategic international media development sector.
Every ye...
08/03/2021
Rebuilding Sudan's shattered economy after the 2019 uprising requires the country's journalists to understand and explain the key economic issues to the...
07/03/2021
Rebuilding Sudan's shattered economy after the 2019 uprising requires the country's journalists to understand and explain the key economic issues to the...
05/03/2021
A unique research project in a remote district of north-west Pakistan has helped to empower women and give them a voice in local media.
Thomson was approached...
02/03/2021
Ask Spanish television reporter Leonor Su rez what role mobile journalism played during the first wave of the pandemic and she barely pauses for thought.
Moj...
02/03/2021
Nata a Kova ev is a reporter with the Balkans based 24 hour news channel N1. She is the instructor for our online learning course, Staying safe: Covering protes...
15/01/2021
Every journalist wants to go on a rescue mission. But hidden from view, the human trafficking story is one of the most challenging, complex and ethically testin...
23/12/2020
Maryam Anam is an aspiring young radio journalist in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a region in north-west Pakistan where women's voices are rarely heard. She is being...
12/12/2020
As the old newsroom clich has it, all news is local. And despite being a global pandemic, the Covid-19 crisis has been felt first in our families, on our doors...
11/12/2020
World Voices: Mart n Leandro Camacho, Peru
Secuestraron mi pais. Emblazoned on a protest placard and photographed by Peruvian journalist, Mart n Leandro C...
04/12/2020
A fellowship with Thomson Media didnt go quite as Hend Kheiralla expected in the pandemic.
At home in Sudan, I was used to working remotely for digital enterpr...
01/12/2020
You're in a queue. How likely is it that you'll check your messages on your mobile phone? Even the least digital amongst us is spending 30 minutes a day...
24/11/2020
PROFILE: Young Journalist Award 2020 winner
Mart n Leandro Camacho has always been passionate about being compassionate. The 27-year-old spent the formative...
19/11/2020
Grounded by Covid-19, our trainers have been learning new skills to be able to impart their expertise to their journalist trainees with promising results.
Th...
18/11/2020
Covid-19 may have forced our workshops online but by innovation and experimentation our trainers have continued to teach and mentor often on less conventional p...
14/11/2020
Khalida Niaz is a journalist with the Tribal News Network based in Peshawar, Pakistan. She was amongst a group of editors and managers taking part in a course r...