Islamabad: To equip journalists with skills required to cope with dangers involved in reporting from conflict areas, Individualland Pakistan has initiated a training programme for media persons of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

In collaboration with National Endowment for Democracy (NED), these trainings will focus upon print and radio journalists and will enable them to report on conflict constructively and in a manner which does not jeopardize their own well-being.

Through variety of sessions, the journalists will be sensitised about social issues of locals and how their voices need to be incorporated in the media. The trainings will be held at Peshawar, Charsadda, D.I. Khan, Mansehra, Mardan, Nowshera, Quetta, Mingora, Kohat, Gwadar, Tank, Upper Dir, Buner, Turbat and Chaman.

Highlighting the background of the trainings, Director Individualland Pakistan Gulmina Bilal Ahmed said that reporting on conflicts requires courage and dedication. “We are making sure that those who choose such a daring job also have the assurance of their safety,” she said.

She said that these trainings will endow the journalists working in KPK and Baluchistan with necessary survival mechanisms to continue their work unhindered. “This initiative will certainly improve the overall condition of media personnel in these areas and will assist them in adopting a set of precautionary measures that are necessary to survive in a deadly environment,” she added.

She said that Pakistan has a long history of conflicts and presently a similar situation exists in the tribal areas of KPK and Balochistan. “Apart from the nature of the conflict, reporting of the ground realities becomes a daunting task, particularly when the parties of the conflict are altogether acting against the democratic forces including the media personnel/journalists working in these areas.”
Source: The News
Date:2/2/2011