VOA Radio Skills Workshop
January 12-23, 2009
The two-week program was sponsored by the Voice of America (VOA) in Kano, Nigeria at the invitation of the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) in Washington. Sandra Stewart, Senior Program Specialist for the International Media Training Center, IBB, was my principal contact.
The 14 participants came from Radio Kano, Freedom Radio, and VOA in Kano. My host and colleague was IBB/VOA Regional Program Officer for West/Central Africa, Cyril Oleh. Joyce Ngoh, IBB/VOA Regional Marketing Manager in Accra, Ghana, successfully arranged for and responded to pre-conference details.
We focused on basic radio news writing, reporting, editing and performance skills. There was a heavy concentration of practical exercises including two final projects that incorporated what the participants learned during the workshop. Everyone was enthusiastic, diligent, energetic and professional. Their hardwork produced good stories that will be a model for future reporting by the participants. Although the journalists came from two separate radio stations, at the end of the program we felt like colleagues as well as competitors. My sincere thanks to IBB/VOA and to the staff and management of Radio Kano and Freedom Radio for the success of this program.
|