admininitiative designed to improve training facilities for journalists across the continent.
Under its Global Media Development Programme led by Mr Eric Chinje and Mr Craig Hammer, the World Bank aims to engage journalists and media owners to develop skills in reporting on development priority areas.
It is expected that the programme would be launched in southern Africa next month following a successful run in East Africa.
Addressing financial journalists at a media-training workshop in Cape Town yesterday, Mr Chinje who is a media specialist said they had launched the Independent Media for Accountability Governance Empowerment
Network after an extensive consultative process across the continent.
The initiative would involve journalists from both the privately owned and official media and would be designed to close information gaps to ensure that media content is in line with development objectives.
“What makes IMAGE different is that unlike other World Bank interventions, it is not coming from a team of economists sitting in dark room and telling people what is best for them, but it is a consultative driven process addressing the development topics across the continent,” Mr Hammer said.
Among some of the partners involved in the programme are the Africa Media Initiative, Highway Africa, Africa Development Bank, the Africa Leadership Forum and the Africa International Centre for Journalists.
Mr Hammer said that they had decided to focus on procurement and public financial management and the budget process after identifying them as areas where most journalists require training.
It is expected that once the programme gets underway more financial journalists will benefit from the training that would be complimented by a mentorship programme.
Among some of the challenges facing journalists across the continent are limited capacity and management, poorly paid professionals, aversion to the development story in favour of sensational headlines and slow but growing use of the Internet and other social media.
It is anticipated that with initially a small core group of journalists that is well resourced, this will grow to incorporate citizenship journalism that will encompass entire communities for sustained capacity development on key technical topics.
Mr Chinje said despite differences in ownership, the privately owned and official media should collaborate and join forces to focus on critical issues to advance the national agenda.
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