- TRT World Citizen launched first international edition of “Journalism for Juniors – J4J” program to help empower Afghan high school students to tell their own stories. Basic journalism workshops were held in the Afghan capital Kabul, in cooperation with the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) in the TİKA Education Center on July 8nd – 11th
- More than 100 students from various high schools in Kabul participated in introductory workshops to mobile journalism and story-telling, designed and run by TRT World staff.
- Launched two years ago, the J4J program has so far reached 1,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey as well as local students
Afghanistan has one of the youngest and fastest growing populations in the world – with approximately 63 percent of the population (27.5 million Afghans) below 25 years of age and 46 percent (11.7 million children) under 15 years of age according to the National Statistics and Information Authority (NSIA).
TRT World launched its “World Citizen” initiative — the first of its kind by a global media network whose employees are on the ground – alongside grassroots humanitarian-based groups.
TRT World has institutionalized its commitment to inspiring humanity’s collective conscience with the launch of “World Citizen” and under the World Citizen umbrella introduced “Journalism for Juniors – J4J” program in October 2017.
Journalism for Juniors workshop series have taken place in Gaziantep, Kilis, Istanbul, Ankara, Kahramanmaraş and many other cities across Turkey.
In partnership with TİKA Turkish Cooperate and Coordination Agency, TRT World Citizen launched its first international edition of “Journalism for Juniors – J4J” program to help empower Afghan high school students to tell their own stories.
TİKA Turkish Cooperate and Coordination Agency has implemented 1,056 projects including education accessibility for 100,000 children in Afghanistan. TİKA also carries out its activities in 59 countries with 61 offices. With TİKA’s offices in Kabul, Mazar-i-Sharif, and Herat, Afghanistan is the only country where TİKA has three offices.
With more than 100 participants, an intensive two-day introductory workshop to mobile journalism and story-telling, designed and run by TRT World staff, was provided to young students as an opportunity to learn the basics of journalism while empowering them to take control of their own narratives. After lessons in creative story-boarding, digital news-making, responsible social media usage, and verifying news credibility, the students were asked to write, film, and edit original stories of their own. Over time they will gain the confidence to tell their own stories and share their voice with the world.
Participant Bilal from Kabul, Afghanistan said: “I cannot express my feelings in a few words, but it was a great opportunity. Before the program, I thought journalists have to have a great expensive camera, and all those expensive equipments, but at J4J, I learned that I can be a great journalist by just using my phone.”
Tanya Goudsouzian, TRT World journalist and J4J mentor, said: “It is very important to give these kids the tools they need to tell their own stories and help broaden the media narrative about their country. The media landscape has changed and now allows anyone with a smart phone to share information online. But the basic values and rules of journalism have not changed. What we hoped to achieve is to instill in them a sense of responsibility: to be accurate and ethical in what they convey.”
[Source: TRT World]