Sudan editors welcome the impact of omson Foundation trainers

Two senior Sudanese editors have spoken about the impact that Thomson Foundation trainers have made on their organisations, as part of a project to train journalists in Sudan to international standards.

The three-year long Sudan Media Capacity Building Project is being run by the Thomson Foundation and the British Council, and funded by the British Embassy in Khartoum.

Experienced trainers specialising in print, radio and television journalism have been working with participating journalists to improve their professional skills.

Two journalists from the newspaper EL-Akhbar took part in the print journalism training with Martin Huckerby and David Harrison.

Obvious difference' There is an obvious difference, noted Elnageib Adam Gamer Eldin Ibrahim, editor in chief at EL Akhbar.

When they came back we noticed a great improvement in their performance. They have gained new skills in editing.

In 2014, the training has taken on an extra element with journalists from Sudan's National Radio working with trainer Derek Ivens to develop their skills as trainers, with a view to forming an in-house training team at the broadcaster.

Mutasim ElFadul Abdelgadir Elfadul, National Radio's editor in chief said:

The most important step is the training of trainers. Derek is working with five of our staff.

This has been a very good step because it would enable us to train other staff, especially in the field of programmes, news and current affairs

Nuhas a journalist - now shes training young talent at Radio #Sudan. #mediadev makes a difference - @Thomfound pic.twitter.com/FUGHYjUMBa

Derek Ivens (@derekivens) June 25, 2014 The ten editors were in London for a week's study tour as part of the capacity building project.

They visited the Telegraph, the BBC Arabic and African services, the Financial Times, and had a briefing from Harriet Matthews, head of the East and West Africa Department at the Foreign Office.

Draft code They also took part in a series of discussions about the challenges facing UK and Sudanese media facilitated by Prof Richard Tait from Cardiff University's School of Journalism, and worked with Ian Beales, secretary of the Editors' Code of Practice Committee on a new draft code for their newspapers.

This was a continuation of the work Ian had begun at a high-level seminar in Khartoum in February.

The study tour is an opportunity for the editors to see international media houses and talk to fellow editors, but also to have the time and space away from their daily jobs to explore the future of their media in Sudan, said Helen Scott, who is managing the project for the Thomson Foundation.

It's important for the project to engage with senior leadership alongside the skills training we are carrying out across all media in Sudan."

LINK:	http://www.thomsonfoundation.org/news-and-features/2014/06/27/sudan-ed...
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