Following its foundation in 2014, dokuz8NEWS has always had a special focus on trainings on alternative media & citizen journalism. In the month of September, the news agency has had its most intensive period in terms of trainings with three specially focused training sessions, as well as preparing six others that will be completed in the next quarter.
The first of three meetings that took place in Istanbul with participation from across Turkey was organized between 6-9 September on the basic training on alternative media & citizen journalism. A total of 28 people from İstanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Diyarbakır, Antalya, Uşak, Manisa, Tekirdağ, Kocaeli, Eskişehir, Kars, Van, Gaziantep, Adana, Mersin participated this session and 12 modules have been covered over the course of 4 days.
REGIONAL MEDIA REPRESENTATION IN TRAININGS
During the training session, there were representatives from regional media outlets from İzmir, Adana, Antalya, Gaziantep, Van, Manisa who have been introduced to modules on self-care & trauma, safety & security for journalists, digital security, social media for news as well as basic courses on what constitutes news and discussions on journalism and citizen journalism. One of the most crucial modules in this training program has been ‘mobile journalism’ which included chapters on camera, angles, interview techniques as well as editing. The participants have been invited to join the dokuz8NEWS networks after completion of the program.
STUDENT INTERNSHIP BASIC TRAINING
First-aid is one of the modules offered in trainings[/caption] One of the most popular training sessions that dokuz8NEWS has initiated has been the one that was curated for students of journalism & media. As a result of the increasing pressure targeting both the field of journalism and academia, moreover many journalists having been disemployed, media outlets being shut down and academics dismissed from campuses, have left a barren future for journalism in the country. One of the most direct results of this impact has been the journalists who have been left behind their peers globally in the last 5 years in terms of recent developments in technology & methodology due to being disemployed and having to continue their lives even though they are unable to carry out their profession. Moreover, apart from the journalists being unable to improve themselves and develop new skills, the academia has been experiencing a regression -especially in faculties of journalism & media- which is threatening the future of journalism in Turkey. Under these circumstances, dokuz8NEWS has been the institution that has offered most number of trainings targeting this field and has initiated a partnership with the Guardian Foundation with support from Consulate General of Sweden in Istanbul and started “dokuz8NEWS Student Internship Project”. As part of this project a three day training program has taken place with 30 participants from 14 provinces including Istanbul, Sakarya, Tekirdağ, Diyarbakır, Kocaeli, Aydın, Eskişehir, Adana, from 21 universities in total between 18-20 September. Following the performance of students during the training, 4 of them will be accepted to dokuz8NEWS internship program for the period of 3 months. 6 of the 30 students who participated this training have also taken part in a one-day news workshop.
dokuz8TV PREPARATIONS & MOBILE JOURNALISM TRAINING
The final training in September has been ‘dokuz8NEWS Video Focused Mobile Journalism Training Program’. This session which primarily welcomed dokuz8NEWS’ most active video content curators and selected participants from the internship training program has been designed in preparation to dokuz8TV which will start broadcast in the month of October. The opening session has been led by Dr. Behlül Çalışkan with a workshop, which has been followed by director Soydaner Gündoğdu’s evaluation of the video content from dokuz8NEWS coverage up until this day. As part of the training session, five news groups have been formed among the participants and mobile news pieces have been curated; which have later been published by dokuz8NEWS. The goal of training session has been set as expanding the scope of mobile video journalism capacity across Turkey and develop mobile journalism notion while strengthening dokuz8TV.
SIX TRAINING SESSIONS AHEAD
Following its most intensive training period, dokuz8NEWS prepares to conduct six more sessions until the end of the year in Ankara, Antlaya, Diyarbakır, İzmir, Istanbul focusing on regional networks as well as a data journalism training which has been designed as part of MATRA Project. Apart from the scheduled training sessions, depending on the regional demand, there will also be organized 1,5 day flash sessions in various metropolises across the country. Applications are open throughout the semester with an open call for following training sessions.
17-20 October Ankara, Central Anatolia Regional Training
27-30 October Antalya, Mediterranean Regional Training
14-17 November Diyarbakır, Eastern & Southeastern Regional Training
29 November - 2 December İzmir, Aegean Regional Training
19-22 December Istanbul, Marmara Regional Training.