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Contributions from
the Column
InWEnt News
Development prospects for the north-east
To Europe with Germany’s support
Reporting on developing
countries needs modifying
02/2005 |
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[ Workshop for journalists ]
Reporting on developing
countries needs modifyin
The reporting of the media in advanced nations on the life in the developing countries is in desperate need of modification. This view was generally shared at a journalist workshop held by InWEnt Capacity Building International at its international training centre near Munich. The 80 participants also concluded that the complex relationships between the developments in different parts of the world should be depicted more transparently.
Wars, disasters, diseases – these are the images from poor nations prevalent in the German media. The reality of life in the developing countries often looks quite different. It is more diverse for a start. The three-day media workshop found examples of clichéd reporting in the cases of Brazil, Iran and Nigeria.
The theme was “Modifying the image: only hunger and poverty?” Practising journalists like Ulrich Schmidla (head of foreign affairs for “Focus” magazine) and German correspondents who work in the three countries selected gave presentations about their work. Panel discussions and study groups facilitated the focused exchange of ideas with journalists, trainers and academics from North and South. The trainee journalists were also included in the dialogue process. The communications studies students who attended gained important tips from the workshop and the panelists on how the reality in the South and the North is constructed by the media.
Dr. F. Kayode Salau
is the project leader for intercultural training in the InWEnt division "Rural Development, Food and Consumer Protection" in Feldafing near Munich.
kayode.salau@inwent.org
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