Pakistan Training Programme for Photojournalists Working in Rural Areas
Pakistani media continues to face pressures from the government authorities, political and other groups. In addition to other punitive measures, the government has increased the use of advertising as a lever to pressure publications. Pakistani journalists also continue to face incidents of violence by political, ethnic and religious groups. Despite these problems, a wide range of publications provide a diverse and critical coverage of national and international affairs. A large number of television and radio stations have also opened up in the private sector, ending decades of government monopoly over the electronic media. Although publications have increased the space devoted to rural affairs, news coverage from the hinterlands remains haphazard, sketchy and negative. The reason is that most rural journalists do not have the necessary skills to cover the diverse range of complex issues affecting their communities. The Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) has been making an important contribution to training of rural journalists since the early 1990s by imparting basic skills to rural journalists and providing a forum for participants to discuss professional needs problems. Following the devolution of power to local governments in over 100 districts of the country, some of the power base has also shifted to these areas. Districts have thus become a nucleus of increased activity, where union councillors and Nazims (Mayors), elected representatives among the residents of the area, have some control over development funds and local politics. District-based journalists have thus become important players in the evolving scenario of devolution of power in Pakistan. Recent advances in information, digital and printing technologies have opened new opportunities for rural journalists. However, very little emphasis has been placed on the training of photographers, and the potential of photo coverage from rural areas has not been fully realised. There is a pressing need to train photojournalists in professional and technical advances. The objective of the project is to introduce district journalists to recent advances in digital photography and current trends in photojournalism, and to develop their capacity to cover the political, economic, social and cultural events and developments in their area. PPF proposes to organise 12 three-day workshops for 20-25 photojournalists from various parts of the country. The workshops will cover the technical aspects of digital photography as well as professional aspects of photojournalism. The module for the workshops will be prepared in consultation with experts in the field of digital photography as well as professional photojournalists. The project aims to develop the capacities of 240-300 photojournalists from all parts of the country through participation in 12 three-day training workshops, and to organise a 4-day training of trainers workshop for 25 photojournalists from all parts of the country so that they may organise similar workshops in their areas.
Eight three-day training workshops for photo journalists on use of photo techniques and related aspects to it were conducted. One training of trainers was delivered on technical aspects of digital photography. The project was successfully concluded by the beneficiary and final report submitted.