Press Release

U.S. Government to Train Six Journalists in the United States

June 17, 2008

Six Tanzanian journalists have embarked on an intensive six-week journalism training programme sponsored by the American Government at the University of Maine through its Department of Journalism and Communication. The programme, scheduled for June 14 through July 25, 2008, will include instruction in the sourcing of stories, interview techniques, managing graphics and other media, and investigative reporting. It will also include trips to television broadcasters and newspapers in Maine, host family weekend stays, and a separate study visit to Washington, DC.

According to a statement from the U.S. Embassy, the centerpiece of the programme is a practicum in which each journalist will be assigned to a news outlet and will work alongside U.S. journalists to produce stories.

The programme has been supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Millennium Challenge Account Threshold Programme, an anti-corruption initiative. According to USAID Mission Director Pamela A. White, “I have seen tremendous improvement in the quality of investigative reporting during my three years in Tanzania. This has encouraged the U.S. Government to fund training for outstanding Tanzanian journalists like these six wonderful professionals so this trend will grow and deepen. The goal of the program is to ramp-up journalists’ investigative reporting skills because solid investigative reporting is critical to the fight against corruption in Tanzania.”

The journalists participating in the programme are Jaffar Mjasiri from The Daily News, Rose Athumani from The Citizen, Hassan Abbas from Business Times, Jamilah Abdallah from Changamoto, Simon Mkina from Kulikoni, and Dorcas Raymos from Africa Media Group - DTV.

When asked about his expectations on the programme Mjasiri said, “I expect that I will be able to learn new techniques in journalism and get a lot of exposure in working in a busy environment characterized by strict deadlines. It is of course exciting to have first-hand experience on the way media works in the U.S. Further, I can also foresee a lot of challenges in terms of grasping issues and applying them immediately in the field during the internship and after leaving the U.S.”

Mkina said, “When our training ends and we come back home to Tanzania, I plan to share what I have learned in the USA for the betterment of not only our newsroom (Media Solutions) but the entire journalism fraternity.”