British-Palestinian seminar on investigative journalism (25/10/2009)
In cooperation with the Amin internews - a Palestinian news agency based in Ramallah- the British Consulate organized a seminar to discuss the status of investigative reporting in the Palestinian territories. The main speaker was David Quinn head of training at the Thompson Foundation UK. Paul Eidle a consultant for Thompson Foundation and Fadi Adeeb communication manager at the British Consulate in Jerusalem also attended the seminar that targeted Palestinian journalists working in the print, broadcast and electronic media.
The aim was to exchange experiences, define the tools and styles in investigative reporting, and try to overcome some of the difficulties facing Palestinian journalists when writing investigative reports. During his presentation, David Quinn explained that in Palestine, investigative reporting is unique and this emerges from the fact that every geographical or regional area has its own special characteristics when dealing with investigative reports and in choosing and highlighting the topics. Quinn said that it is very important that investigative reports should be relevant to the reality of the country, should reflect readers’ trends and interests, and should move away from adding the journalist’s own opinion. “There should be distinction between opinion and investigative reports. The latter should be professional and objective,” he said.
Quinn also urged Palestinian journalists to focus on topics that are of interest to the reader at a time when Palestinian media is saturated with official and political news on the expense of investigative reports. He highlighted a British Council survey conducted in 2005 saying that it indicated that media trends in Palestine remain focused on topics such as poverty, unemployment, corruption and social issues in addition to interest in international affairs, which results from the fact that Palestinians have a political issue to be concerned with. Furthermore, Quinn explained that the reader must be made aware of the fact that Palestinian journalists often face difficulties in getting information, but on the other hand have an advantage of having many international organizations that can be good media sources. Quinn also stressed that journalists should use surveys, trends and studies in order to write investigative reports, and should spend resources (time and money) on reports that concern the readers. Otherwise, it would be a waste of precious time and money. In the end, he made clear that the modern investigative reports should not be more than 3 minutes or 700 words long and should focus on topics that start a debate and discussion. However, at the same time he said it should not constitute a high risk for the journalist or his media organization and should be presented in simple language rather than complicated or polished terminology.
British Consulate Communication Manager Fadi Adeeb spoke about the competition the Thompson Foundation organizes in the region every year with funding and cooperation with the UK Foreign Office represented by the British Consulate General in Jerusalem. He said that Palestinian journalists working in TV, print and photojournalism whether they participated in the training or not, can participate in the competition.
For more information on how you can participate in the inquirer award competition follow this link.
For more information on the journalism seminar, please call Fadi Adeeb, Communication Manager; British Consulate General- Jerusalem on mobile 0547712648
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The seminar in Ramallah