InSPIRE achieves another milestone: Practical Training Workshops for Inter-University Competition

Marking another milestone, the InSPIRE (Incubator Spaces for Promotion of Information Rights and Freedom of Expression) project initiated its Practical Training Workshop series for the students from the Department of Media Studies, University of Jaffna on the 22nd January 2022 at the Green Grass Hotel, Jaffna.

A series of practical trainings will be conducted in four locations - Jaffna, Ampara, Peradeniya and Colombo - under the theme “An Exploration of Creative Minds for Future Media” which is the main theme of the InSPIRE project. The trainings will take place in hybrid mode employing the zoom technology while there will be hands-on training on creating media products facilitated by SDJF and CMiL trainers.

The Series of Practical Training Workshops will cover a range of topics including: (i) Multimedia article writing and Blogs; (ii) Digital Storytelling; (iii) Mobile Journalism; (iv) Cartoon Doodle Expression; (v)Digital Drama; (vi) Short films; (vii) Illustrations; (viii) Mobile/DSLR photography; (ix) Vlogs. The primary objective of this training programme is to provide expert training and practical exposure for the university students to produce quality media products for the forth coming InSPIRE Inter-University Competition. The InSPIRE students from the University of Jaffna, Southeastern University, University of Peradeniya and University of Sri Jayewardenepura will compete with each other and compete together with each other on 10 different media categories. The purpose of practical the practical training is mainly to match the skills with the current job market demands and provide practical exposure and mentorship by the experts and link media students and experts establishing a unique network. The Practical Training Workshops are also complimented by inter-university and inter district exchange where students will get to meet Media students of other universities during the training and during the inter-university competition. They will work in collaboration and evolve together while creating mutual bonding during their inter district exchange.

The Inter-University Competition is one of the main components of the InSPIRE project which will focus on promoting synergy between universities and promoting inter-university culture of creating media products on regional social issues and other human rights concerns such as Right to Information, Freedom of Expression, etc.

At the Inaugural session of the Training Workshops, the guest speakers Dr. K. Suthakar, Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Jaffna and Dr. S. Raguram, Head, Department of Media Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Jaffna expressed their gratitude and pledge to continue their support to make the InSPIRE project a success. On behalf of SDJF and HELVETAS, Mr. Azad Mustaffa, Program Director, SDJF welcomed the guests and gave an overview of the InSPIRE project and highlighted the project objectives and aims.  

At the launch of Practical Training Workshops, on the 22nd of January, the trainers, Dr. M.C. Rasmin, Mr.Ajith Perakum Jayasinghe, and Ms. Ama Ratnayake will discuss and do practical training on Blogs, while on 23rd of January Dr. M.C. Rasmin will discuss ‘Understanding digital media and concept of digital articles’ and ‘Media ethics and digital journalism’, followed by practical trainings.

There will also be an invited international session by trainers from KIIT University, India. Dr. Bidu Das and Dr. Mukherjee, KIIT University, India will facilitate a session on ‘Capturing Community Issues through writing’.

InSPIRE Inter-University Competition can be considered an ecosystem for media learning and practical training. The InSPIRE project is made possible by the generous funding of the European Union. The project partners are Helvetas Intercooperation and Sri Lanka Development Journalist Forum (SDJF).