Tanzanian radio correspondents upskill in news production

The support is meant to ensure that people in Tanzania, especially poor women and girls, have the capacity to make informed decisions on issues that affect their daily lives. PHOTO: ImageCollab

Capacity building sessions in news production were carried out by the UNESCO Office in Dar es Salaam to local radio correspondents in Arusha from 17 to 21 August and Dodoma from 24 to 28 August. The sessions were part of the ‘Empowering Local Radios with Information and Communication Technologies for the Promotion of Rural Citizens’ project to equip local radio correspondents with skills in designing and production of quality news bulletins and programmes.

Getrude John, media training coordinator for UNESCO in Dar es Salaam, says the sessions enabled participants to enhance their skills in basic news writing, reporting and editing quality news and programmes on issues of local concern therefore contributing towards sustainable development in Tanzania. She says the capacity building sessions were aimed to support local radios correspondents and projects that support radios with local news and testimonies.

According to John, 40 participating local radios correspondents participated in the mentorship programme immediately after the training. She says in Tanzania, UNESCO through funding from the Swiss Development Cooporation supports 25 community radios and the Network of Community Media in Tanzania (TADIO), an entity with 35 members comprising of 34 community radios and the Pemba Press Club.

“The support is meant to ensure that people in Tanzania, especially poor women and girls, have the capacity to make informed decisions on issues that affect their daily lives based on access to relevant, culturally appropriate, gender-responsive accurate information and knowledge. Community radios that benefitted from the sessions include Sengerema FM, Mazingira FM, Kahama FM, Storm FM and Uvinza FM,” says John.