Southern African Media Training Trust (NSJ)

Special Course Announcement

NSJ / NIZA sponsored Poverty Reporting Course.

The NSJ Trust invites SADC journalists to apply for a fully sponsored two-week course in Poverty Reporting.
The NSJ Trust is an independent media training institute owned by the Forum for African Media Women in the SADC (FAMW-SADC), MISA, Southern African Broadcasting Association (SABA), World Association for Community Radio Stations in Africa (Amarc-Africa) and associate journalism schools in the SADC and Nordic regions.

Its overall objective is to further the development of independent, journalism and media practice in southern Africa through the provision of higher training for journalists and other media practitioners.

Reporting Poverty requires more than the ability to write about the poor. Poverty impacts on a range of social, political and economic issues. Reporting Poverty requires an understanding of these issues in order to initiate ideas that translate, with skilled reporting, into well-written stories with impact, human interest and analysis.

The NSJ is collaborating with the Netherlands Institute of Southern Africa and Wits University to run a Reporting Poverty workshop in Lesotho. It presents an opportunity to enrich coverage of a major issue in Africa. The Millennium Development Goal 1
seeks to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. It sets as its target to halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day. At the same time, it seeks to halve the number of people who suffer hunger. This MDG is not alone in its
objective to impact on poverty. Yet there is little interrogation of the goals, little coverage of initiatives and little interaction by the mainstream media with those most affected by poverty.

The NSJ's Reporting Poverty workshop aims to:

· Create an understanding of poverty and its definitions that contribute to informed and analytical coverage
· Identify the challenges facing reporters in covering poverty
· Gain practical skills and resources to overcome these challenges
· Identify resources available for covering poverty
· Encourage diversity and explore ways of giving the poor a voice

Eligibility: The course is open to SADC journalists with a minimum of three years experience in journalism. Women are very much encouraged to apply.

DATE: October 3 – 15, 2005
VENUE: Maseru, Lesotho

Scholarships
In general, the NSJ / NIZA scholarship covers the following:
- Full transport to and from the venue
- Accommodation
- Meals
- Tuition, and
- Field trips
- Travel insurance

It does not cover laundry, telephone expenses, health requirements (for example Yellow fever inoculation, etc.), and visa fees.

Application Procedure

All applicants are expected to send the following documents:
1. Completed application forms
2. Detailed curriculum vitae
3. Letter from employer (if not freelance) and,
4. A motivational essay stating why you want to attend the course.

All applications should be sent to:

The Training Manager
Southern African Media Training Trust (NSJ)
C.P. 4537, Maputo, Mozambique
Email: [email protected]
Fax: 258 1 490880
Tel: 258 1 493400

APPLICATION DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 01, 2005