Media Training at Jaffna University in Sri Lanka in Times of Disaster
09-02-2005 (New Delhi)
UNESCO training coordinator
Arulselvan Senthivel
at the MRTC gate
© UNESCO
It is Sunday afternoon at the Media Resource and Training Centre (MRTC) of the Jaffna University but the students in the journalism diploma are hard at work after a 3-week mid-term break. They are planning the next issue of their lab newspaper, which will document how the tsunami was covered by the newspapers of the Northern province of Sri Lanka.
Since October last year, the twenty students, mainly working journalists, have been coming to the Centre every Saturday and Sunday. They are determined to complete their diploma studies over the on-going period of 18 months.
Despite the tight time schedule of work and studies on seven days of seven, the attendance levels are generally high.
“I am very happy with the training”, says Ratnam Thayaparan who is a freelance journalist reporting to both radio and newspapers. Navaratnam Parameswaran of Daily Mirror agrees. The new Media Resource and Training Centre makes a big difference for Jaffna’s journalists: “Earlier there was no journalism training in Jaffna”.
The MRTC started a year ago as a UNESCO-Jaffna University project with funding support from the Royal Danish Government.
“Alongside the part time diploma, the Centre has offered some 20 short workshops for working journalists over the past 12 months, including training in computer skills,” the project’s training co-ordinator Arulselvan Senthivel counts. Moreover the Centre offers an Internet connection for the journalists and a selection of books, newspapers, and other services at its resource library.
Both Jaffna University’s Vice Chancellor S.Mohanadas and University Coordinator Arunachalam Sanmuagadas are strong supporters of journalism studies, and hope that the University will be able to launch a 3-year degree course within the next few years.
This is good news for many diploma students. “We need to understand better the complexities of the society around us”, Kanaganayagam Valethanchan of the Uthayan newspaper says. “We need to know more of the conceptual aspects and issues of journalism and the humanity.”
The disastrous tsunami of 26 December, put the students into real test, both skillswise and psychologically. “The tsunami news came to MRTC at 10h30 am, during the previous lab journal practical class”, remember the students. The town of Jaffna itself was safe but the coastal students wanted to get back to their home villages immediately. “Soon, it was decided to abandon the immediate publication of the lab journal”, the training coordinator relates. “Most students were called to report on the tsunami and mid-semester holidays were declared from next day.”
Ratnam Thayaparan was already in his home village, three kilometers from the coast when the disaster struck. “The view was devastating, I would not eat for 2-3 days”, says Ratnam who at the same time helped to evacuate people and shot pictures for his newspaper.
The students now look forward to a workshop on the trauma of tsunami, which was promised to them by their fellow student T.T. Mayuran, who has joined the Mental Health Task force in Disaster as its press secretary. Discussion among the groups would also provide self-help to the traumatic experiences from reporting disaster.
The Centre has also hosted visits of several groups of media workers from other parts of Sri Lanka. These contacts are its contribution to the on-going peace-building efforts in Sri Lanka.
Despite the tight time schedule of work and studies on seven days of seven, the attendance levels are generally high.
“I am very happy with the training”, says Ratnam Thayaparan who is a freelance journalist reporting to both radio and newspapers. Navaratnam Parameswaran of Daily Mirror agrees. The new Media Resource and Training Centre makes a big difference for Jaffna’s journalists: “Earlier there was no journalism training in Jaffna”.
The MRTC started a year ago as a UNESCO-Jaffna University project with funding support from the Royal Danish Government.
“Alongside the part time diploma, the Centre has offered some 20 short workshops for working journalists over the past 12 months, including training in computer skills,” the project’s training co-ordinator Arulselvan Senthivel counts. Moreover the Centre offers an Internet connection for the journalists and a selection of books, newspapers, and other services at its resource library.
Both Jaffna University’s Vice Chancellor S.Mohanadas and University Coordinator Arunachalam Sanmuagadas are strong supporters of journalism studies, and hope that the University will be able to launch a 3-year degree course within the next few years.
This is good news for many diploma students. “We need to understand better the complexities of the society around us”, Kanaganayagam Valethanchan of the Uthayan newspaper says. “We need to know more of the conceptual aspects and issues of journalism and the humanity.”
The disastrous tsunami of 26 December, put the students into real test, both skillswise and psychologically. “The tsunami news came to MRTC at 10h30 am, during the previous lab journal practical class”, remember the students. The town of Jaffna itself was safe but the coastal students wanted to get back to their home villages immediately. “Soon, it was decided to abandon the immediate publication of the lab journal”, the training coordinator relates. “Most students were called to report on the tsunami and mid-semester holidays were declared from next day.”
Ratnam Thayaparan was already in his home village, three kilometers from the coast when the disaster struck. “The view was devastating, I would not eat for 2-3 days”, says Ratnam who at the same time helped to evacuate people and shot pictures for his newspaper.
The students now look forward to a workshop on the trauma of tsunami, which was promised to them by their fellow student T.T. Mayuran, who has joined the Mental Health Task force in Disaster as its press secretary. Discussion among the groups would also provide self-help to the traumatic experiences from reporting disaster.
The Centre has also hosted visits of several groups of media workers from other parts of Sri Lanka. These contacts are its contribution to the on-going peace-building efforts in Sri Lanka.
Related themes/countries
· Tsunami in South Asia
· Training of Media Professionals: News Archives 2005
· Sri Lanka: News Archive 2005
Share this story:
Contact information
- UNESCO New Delhi
Source
- UNESCO Office in New Delhi
Field office