For nearly 6 years, Cameroonian Journalists have been fighting a war different from that being fought by government forces and separatist fighters, and this has been to credibly report the armed conflict.
It is against this backdrop that the Information Management, and Support Services for Rural and Agricultural Development, IMSSRAD, together with the United States Embassy in Cameroon, Tuesday April 05 organized a training for some Bamenda-based Journalists to augment their skills on conflict reporting.
Under the theme “Armed conflict-sensitive reporting and resilience,” the journalists, drawn across 15 media organs in the Northwest Region upgraded their skills on how to effectively report on the deathly armed conflict in Anglophone Cameroon which is nearing a 6th year.
It was thus, a moment for the media women and men to seek knowledge on information guadering, parkaging and above all how to disseminate such sensitive information to the public.
They were cautioned by different facilitators to avoid being too emotional and to stay away from stories which could jeopardize their profession.
According to Gwain Colbert, one of the facilitators, journalists should always stick to the ethics of the profession by telling both sides of the story, practice balance, fairness and always accredit their sources.
The experienced journalist who happens to be a TWIF NEWS contributor in Bamenda, frankly intimated that ” no story is worth a journalist’s life”.
This is because a dead journalist can not cover a story and so it is important to be alive in order tell several other stories.
The one day capacity building workshop also provided an opportunity for the journalists to share their experiences on how they have been coping amidst the ongoing war between separatist fighters and government forces in the Northwest and South West Regions.
The trainees were therefore reminded of the need to exhibit professionalism as they go about their work given that their reports could either aggravate or deescalate the tension.
According to Hadija Hamidu, programme and planning officer of IMSSRAD, the workshop served as a cartalist to empower participants with tools on how to effectively manage stress and communicate thoughtfully to the population.
“Often, people are traumatized because they are uncomfortable with armed conflicts or do not have sufficient knowledge and information to deal effectively with uncertain, unpredictable and unprecedented armed conflict situations,” she said.
The workshop which was under “The Resilient Project” and sponsored by the Africa Regionals Democracy Fund, ARDF is also aimed at assisting crisis prone neighborhoods in Bamenda III sub division.
For Information, Sponsorship or Advertisement, Contract TWIF NEWS via: +237680973157.