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IATP News - February 2007

Media Outlets throughout Eurasia Rely on IATP for Free Access to Sources and Audiences

As the countries of the Former Soviet Union struggle to emerge from a legacy of rigorous controls over information, IATP has been providing the access to unbiased sources that is critical to the development of a sustainable, independent press. Furthermore, IATP’s free IT training and web hosting services have helped these journalists to tap into far wider audiences, and the safe and neutral space of IATP centers and forums permit them to share ideas and information freely. IATP trains over 300 journalists each year, and is used nearly 1,000 media professionals.

Evgeniy Samarin, a journalist of Prikaspiyskaya
Communa, a regional daily newspaper, posts his
comments in the course of the online discussion at
the IATP access site in Atyrau, Kazakhstan.

• A group of teenage journalists from the Fergana Valley in Central Asia have created a powerful independent outlet for reporting on the issues that confront youth of the region. Nasha Versia (Our Version) is a cadre of IREX-trained journalists that have published over 50 hard-hitting, quality articles on corruption, politics, AIDS, and education, and will pass their skills along to a set of young journalists from the Caucasus this Spring. Read more in this report from IREX news .
  
  Over 40 journalists, alumni, college students and faculty from Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine shared the latest news in journalism development in their countries, professional advancement opportunities, and made contacts online during a discussion on modern journalists’ professional ethics and culture in the market economy. Gulnar Asanbaeva (IV 01), a candidate of philosophic sciences and the senior lecturer of International Journalism and Mass Communication Department at the Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics, and Strategic Research (KIMEP), delivered an online presentation of today’s journalism in Kazakhstan, including quality of journalism education at colleges and its contribution to civil society development. “Democracy will remain elusive if the audience does not know how the government manipulates masses via media outlets, if it [audience] does not know the language of media culture,” noted Asanbaeva. “Media – the new sphere, open for interaction…We need to learn to decode information coming from state and commercial media companies in order to assess media’s effectiveness.” Dmitriy Lemayev (FLEX 03) from Kyzylorda, Kazakhstan, remarked, “There many advancement opportunities for journalists. One of them is the summer school on world media politics at the University of Pennsylvania.” Lastly, Asanbaeva shared news on new project, funded by the US Embassy to Kazakhstan, which will gather over 20 journalists from Central Asia to advance their professional skills. The next chat will address the quality of journalism education at Kazakh colleges in March.

Young Armenian journalists discuss the layout of the
next issue of their newsletter at the IATP center in
Spitak, Armenia. 

• A club for young journalists has been serving citizens of Spitak, Armenia since 2002, producing the city’s only newsletter from the IATP center, a bi-weekly on local news. The group regularly updates the SpiTux website, lays out and prints their newsletter, and conducts research for their articles at the IATP center, where their predecessors founded the Young Journalists Club after a series of IATP trainings four years ago. Its members are volunteers at the Shogher Charitable Youth Center, IATP’s local partner, and are the latest generation of a series of young journalists to emerge from the partnership.
  
  
• From January 15 to 17, six journalists from three media outlets completed training on skills of Internet for journalists at the IATP access site in Kulyab, Tajikistan. IATP Access Site Administrator Nuriya Hamidova taught the participants how to open e-mail accounts, use search engines to find necessary information, and search for popular news websites. On January 16, a local Kulyab broadcasting channel reported about conduction of these trainings in “News”. Besides, “Radio of Tajikistan”, that has more than one million audience, broadcasted about these trainings.
  
  
• IATP users in Ashgabat,Turkmenistan, started writing professional journalistic articles after completing “Journalism’s Kitchen” Distance Learning (DL) Course. Course participant Shatlyk Bayarov, a disabled athlete, wrote a thesis about his athletic achievements and posted it to a newly created web portal for disabled sportsmen “Preodoleniye.” Ogulnar Ishankuliyeva, another participant of the DL course and a ninth-grade-student in Ashgabat, prepared a paper on the culinary profession and bread based on her visit to a local bakery and it’s workers’ interview. The “Journalism’s Kitchen” Distance Learning (DL) Course was launched by Aleksandr Saraykin, a fourth-year student at International Turkmen-Turkish University, on October 20. Read more in the October 2006 edition of IATP News.
  

Seminar attendees pose with Michael J.
Hostetler (right) after the seminar

• Twenty TV and Radio journalists accrued advanced public speaking skills in a February 20 on online conference with an American expert. The IATP center in Lviv, Ukraine, sponsored the seminar entitled, “Advanced Public Speaking,” conducted by Professor Michael J. Hostetler (Fulbright 07), of St. John’s University. Professor Hostetler paid attention to interrelation between art of public speaking and democracy. He emphasized that democracy creates a base for public speaking development and vice versa - free public speaking facilitates democracy. Later, the participants gained skills on rhetoric use in journalism. By sponsoring this seminar, IATP contributed to professional development of the local journalists and helped American professor to share his experience with Ukrainian colleagues.

• In February, five journalists of Chernihiv, Ukraine gained a host of IT skills that will help them monitor media legislation and maintain professional websites for their outlets. IATP Trainer Oleksandr Mayshev conducted the training series, and showed the group how to navigate online resources. Of particular interest was the website of the National television and Radio Broadcasting Council of Ukraine, which grants TV and radio broadcasting licenses, monitors TV and radio broadcasters’ operations in compliance with media legislation, introduces sanctions for violators, manages the frequency recourse and elaborates the Electronic Media Development Plan. Later, Mayshev showed the group how to post resources to a server and demonstrated the IATP Hosting Content Management System, used for facilitating Web development for users without knowledge of HTML. By using skills and knowledge obtained at IATP trainings, local journalists will be able to create or improve the websites of their media to provide information about their region to wider Internet audience.

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