Between May 20th and 23rd, the province of Huambo hosted, at the CEFOJOR facilities, the second training session for journalists promoted by PASCAL – a project financed by the European Union, focusing on Citizen Journalism. For four days, journalists and directors from various media outlets explored innovative approaches to amplifying the voice of the population’s needs.
The training ended with visits to important media facilities in Huambo, including the studios of Rádio e TV Escola, Rádio Nacional do Huambo, Rádio Ecclesia, ANGOP, Edições Novembro, Televisão Pública de Angola and TV Zimbo. In addition, a visit was made to the Huambo cultural center, followed by a discussion on “Steps towards creating a network of journalists within the framework of participatory governance”. This discussion resulted in several recommendations to improve the project’s impact on communities with the collaboration of journalists.
The main recommendations include:
- Creation of groups of journalists: it was suggested that groups of journalists be formed to propose agendas and productions for analysis and group discussion, with periodic assessments of the work carried out, to assess the impact and relevance of citizen journalism.
- Establishment of specific goals: specific goals were defined for the production of citizen journalism, creating small local and provincial networks to monitor and evaluate practical results, with subsequent presentation to PASCAL
- Strategies and themes for reporting: strategies and themes were proposed to be addressed in local or community reporting and broadcasts, ensuring that the results of the training are visible to the public.
The training reaffirms PASCAL’s commitment to promoting a press that strengthens civic participation, transparency and accountability of public institutions, contributing to more democratic and participatory governance in Angola.