At least eight Journalists working for Amadi FM Radio in Mundri West County in Western Equatoria State on Friday concluded a two-day training in the coverage of peace and reconciliation and gender-based violence.
The training was organized by the Community Media Network in South Sudan (COMNET-SS) and supported by the Norwegian People Aid (NPA).
Paul Jimmy, a consultant with COMNET told Radio Tamazuj that the main focus of the training is to help journalists cover issues of peace, gender violence and be to be part of the solution to problems in the community when reporting.
“Basically, we came here to do on-site mentorship for the radio staff of Amadi FM and to see the how the reporters can improve in covering matters of gender-based violence ethically and we are also working with the journalists to underline issues and the role of media in conflict and peace reporting,” Jimmy said.
He added: “It is how journalists can become peacemakers or advocates for peace and messengers of hope. We have introduced solution-focused journalism and we need the media to be at the center of the search for peace, where if a journalist does a story, he can help the parties in the conflict to find their solution.”
One of the participants, John Sylvester, said the training was very good and that they learned a lot about conflict reporting.
“Since yesterday (Thursday), we have learned a lot, especially in reporting conflict issues and how we can produce a program for the radio. We also learned about peace Journalism and how to balance stories,” Sylvester said. “As journalists, we need more support with training because we are the watchdogs of the community.”