" Journalists in Sri Lanka Have an Enormous Opportunity to Walk the Extra Mile..."

The 5 days of MediaCorps orientation and training program for young peace
journalists was successfully concluded on October, 22 at Hotel Goldi Sands
Hotel, Negombo.
MediaCorps Fellowship is an innovative program which empowers young
journalists to break traditional barriers in conventional storytelling, especially
when reporting stories of marginalized and conflict affected communities that
are less captured by mainstream media. The program has trained 58 young
journalists in two previous Fellowships who have produced more than 70
multimedia stories.

The third batch of MediaCorps Fellowship comprised of 34 young journalists
(18 girls and 16 boys) belonging to different ethnic and linguistic backgrounds
(Sinhala-18, Tamil-10 and Muslim-6).
The five day training program started on October 18 with an inauguration
ceremony with the presence of Prof. Padmasiri Wanigasundera, Chairperson,
SDJF and Mr. Mohamed Azad, Program Director, SDJF. Addressing the
fellows, Prof. Wanigasundera said "journalists in Sri Lanka have an enormous
opportunity to walk the extra mile and be development journalists and bring to
light the uncaptured issues if diverse communities in the country".
For five days the Fellows underwent an intensive yet interactive session on a
wide range of topics including diversity and pluralism, peace and conflict
sensitive journalism, gender sensitive journalism, using social media for
journalism and practical sessions on MoJo, their primary tool for story
production. The technical sessions on MoJo imparted the essential
components in visual storytelling including basic shots types, sequences,
camera angles and one third rule through a globally accepted MoJo editing
mobile app, KineMaster.

On Day 3, Mr. K.W. Janaranjana, Editor in Chief of Anidda Newspaper joined
the Fellows for a thought provoking discussion. "Journalism is a profession
with an enormous social impact. That is why journalists should be considerate
of what they report and make sure their reports foster coexistence", said Mr.
Janaranjana.
Fellows had the opportunity to practically use their classroom learning during
a field visit on Day 3 to three communities in Kochchikade and Waikkala
areas where they produced MoJos on communities affected by an irregular
garbage dump site and declining tile industry respectively. Following the field
visit the Fellows produced 34 MoJos on the given issues.

On the day 5, the hosting and reverse-hosting process was elaborated after
which MediaCorps Alumni joined the new batch for an interesting experience
sharing session where the alumni shared their stories, challenges and
memories gained from the Fellowship that they would cherish for a lifetime. At
the end each fellows signed the MC fellowship agreement and received a
field note book.

Mohamed Rasool, News Editor of Capital FM, who took part in the training
noted, "As journalists we have to keep abreast with the trends in media and
communication. MediaCorps Fellowship offered me the valuable opportunity
to learn the new media tool of mobile journalism (MoJo) which has now
become a global trend. MoJo will innovate my career as a journalist and
enable me to give voice to stories from the communities in a visually
appealing manner". "I experienced the concept of cross culture throughout
this program where I could mingle with other journalists hailing from diverse
cultures. The bond we have created from here will continue further in our field
exercises by hosting each other, which I think will contribute to foster the
much needed coexistence in the country", added Kamali Dedigama, another
Fellow who is a freelance journalist from Vennappuwa.
After the training program the Fellows will spend a week in a community
different from their very own with their MediaCorps partner and produce
collaborative multimedia and mobile stories. The Fellows will receive remote
mentorship and a stipend to facilitate their field work process.
This program was organized by the Sri Lanka Development Journalist Forum
(SDJF), as a part of the Media Empowerment for a Democratic Sri Lanka
(MEND) Program, implemented by the International Research Exchanges
Board (IREX) with the support from USAID.