• February 9, 2005
• General News, Training and Capacity Building
• Web Desk

Date: February 09, 2005
Location: Rahimyar

Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) organized a Journalism Training Workshop at Rahim Yar Khan, Punjab, for local journalists and women from 9-11 February 2005.

Rahimyar Khan is the gateway to Cholistan desert, which among other things had been the favorite hunting ground for UAE king, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nayhan.

Fortunately for us, the UAE financial help is clearly visible on various development projects of Rahim Yar Khan.
The airport of Rahim Yar Khan is named after Sheikh Zayed, that comprises of a wide runway that experience the large jet aircraft of the UAE ruler, a modern airport terminal, and a separate royal level airport lounge for the UAE royalty. Life size portraits of Shaikh Zayed, President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz can clearly be seen as the reminder of the recent visit which the ruler paid to the area.

Besides the notable UAE funded institutions Rahim Yar Khan, one can easily observe the grand palace of the UAE ruler, educational institutions, hospitals and other landmarks showing the benevolent patronage of the Sheikh Zayed.

The Journalism Training Workshop was held at the auditorium of Sheikh Zayed Medical College and Hospital. This workshop was attended by 23 participants, the break up was 10 women consisting of lecturers, counselors, social workers , NGO’s personnel and other educated women while 13 working journalists representing various national, regional and local newspapers and magazines.

The PPF instructors’ team consisted of Mr.Fazal Qureshi, Vice Chairman PPF, and senior journalist from Rahimyar Khan Ch. Abdul Khaliq Shakir.The workshop began as. Ch. Abdul Khaliq Shakir welcomed the participants in the workshop. In his remarks he recalled that that PPF has previously organized similar journalism training workshops in Rahimyar Khan for journalists at the Press Club and for women at the Post Graduate Degree College for Women.

In his opening remarks Mr.Fazal Qureshi explained the objectives of PPF, the most important of which was to raise the standards of journalism in the rural and semi rural areas with special emphasis on imparting newspaper-writing skills to women.

After the introduction of the participants, first session began with explanation of the principles of news writing. An open discussion was followed by every session that comprises of questions and answers covering a wide range of subjects relating to news writing.

Lectures followed practical exercises. In the practical exercise on news writing, the participants were provided material and were required to rewrite it in accordance with the principles of news writing with a proper lead. Quite a few of the participants did a good job of writing a news item.

The next segment was a discussion on principles of news ethics and new values. The participants took part in discussions in all the aspects of journalism ethics including complaints about blackmailing and irresponsible news reporting were discu
ssed threadbare.

Next was the segment on article and feature writing. The lecture covered article writing, which covered every topic like the selection of a subject, writing a theme sentence to determine the parameters of the subject, collection and sorting of the material and finally writing the article. The lecture emphasized the need for professional preparation of a comprehensive manuscript, the importance of photographs and finally on the marketing of the articles and features in the media.

As a practical exercise, the participants were asked to select a subject, write an article on some issue of their area which could be used for release to the newspapers. One subject was selected and participants determined the contents of the article covering all aspects. The task of writing the article was given as homework. Their output was then discussed in open session the next day and evaluated.

The final segment of the program was about importance of maintaining reference records on subjects of interest to the writers.An open discussion was then followed, in which the participants also gave their feedback about the workshop. Mrs. Rehana Abul Hasan, a lecturer at Government College for Women said that the topics discussed in the workshop were of great importance due to their emphasis on social betterment. This workshop has provided her knowledge on technicalities of writing.

Ms. Asia Shakir, a postgraduate student said that this workshop has helped her develop an interest in writing and she thinks now that she is equipped for writing an article. She said that it was her first experience to attend this kind of workshop and these kind of workshops help a great deal in creating awareness in women.

Mr.Abrar Ahmed Bhatti, correspondent Daily Sangmeel Multan said that the standard of th workshop was high and he will try to apply the knowledge he has gained in future.

Ms.Saba Wahid , a social worker said that due to this workshop many of her concepts got clear. One suggestion that she gave was that the participants should be asked to bring their writing along at the beginning of the workshop an after the workshop their previous article and the one written in the workshop should be analyzed. Through this, the results of the workshop can easily be determined.

The closing session was presided over by Dr.Eesa Mohammad Khan, Principal Sheikh Zayed Medical College, Rahimyar Khan, while Dr.Sohail Ahmed Baloch, Medical Superintendent Shaikh Zayed Hospital and Chaudhry Abdul Hameed, former principal of the local college were guests of honor.

Dr.Eesa Mohammad Khan and Dr. Sohail Ahmed Baloch distributed the certificates to the participants. In his speech Dr.Eesa Mohammad Khan praised PPF for having organized the journalism-training workshop. He specially welcomed the inclusion of women in the workshop. He urged the newly trained journalists and women to devote their attention to the current scenario of the issues faced by the country.