Reporting News in Hostile Environments
Twenty five radio journalists from VOA partner stations across Mali participated in a one week workshop on journalism. The workshop was organized by the Office of Strategy and Development (OSD) and held at the Azalai Salam hotel in Bamako, October 11-16, 2015.
The workshop curriculum
The workshop sessions included: election coverage, reporting in hostile environment, techniques for researching, interviewing, writing news stories for radio, importance of comprehensiveness, balance and objectivity, and the use of social media. The participants created a Facebook group page: “VOA Afrique Formation Mali”. The two trainers, Scott Bobb and Khalil Gueye, asked each participant to come up with a story to cover. Most participants went out for interviews and they helped each other to edit the stories. By the end of the workshop, each journalist covered a story. The stories were presented to and commented with the group. Topics covered by participants included: male infertility, fistulas, education issues in northern Mali, tragedy in Mecca, corruption in Mali, crisis in the Malian Federation of football, etc.