Twelve journalists from two countries in six teams = amazing stories. A recent DW Akademie media dialogue in Nairobi paired up Kenyan and German journalists for training and joint reporting. The mixed teams benefited from their different approaches and experiences, resulting in great ideas.

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As the African Stories project evolves, the television production teams working with DW Akademie are not only building on the skills they learned in the first series of training, but are now beginning to master new visual storytelling techniques for longer and more in-depth feature stories.

(Click on the Playlist above to watch the four feature stories produced during the workshop by the teams from NBC, MBC-TV, Muvi-TV and Multi TV.)

Following the recent workshop in Namibia, DW Akademie Project Manager André Surén talked to onMedia about how the African Stories team are training crews to produce stories in a reportage style that strives for more dynamic filming through moving the camera and following action.

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DW Akademie will conduct a two-week workshop on data-driven journalism in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh from January 20 – 31, 2014.

Cambodian journalists, citizen journalists, IT or social media specialists, journalism students and journalism trainers are invited to apply to take part in this training course.

You can find out more about the workshop and download the application documents below.

Please note that the application deadline for the workshop has been extended to Tuesday, December 31, 2013.

1 Call for Applications ‘Data-driven Journalism’

2. Project Outline ‘Data-driven Journalism’

3 Application Form ‘Data-driven Journalism’

4. Employers Declaration ‘Data-driven Journalism’

Good luck with your applications and feel free to share information about the workshop with others who might be interested.

Are you are journalist? A blogger? A photographer? A media activist?

Sign up for the open online “Digital Safety for Journalists” workshop being offered by DW Akademie in the first week of December, 2013.

The workshop, which is being held in conjunction with Reporters Without Borders, will give you a better understanding of how to protect your communications and your data.

All over the world, media professionals are increasingly using digital devices such as cameras, recorders, mobile phones and computers to do their reporting. These might make our lives easier, but they also mean we are increasingly being subject to digital surveillance and hacking attacks. This means digital security has become an imperative.

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A list of forbidden words; newspapers influenced by politicians; and in the capital Ulan Bator, Mongolian journalists refrain from criticizing their colleagues because all journalists know each other.

At a recent DW Akademie Media Dialogue in Berlin, a group of visiting journalists, editors and media experts from Mongolia gave an insight into media development in their country.

German journalists attending were keen to find out about press freedom in Mongolia; who exactly owns private media; and, what progress is being made towards press industry self regulation.

It was also another opportunity for the visiting Mongolian journalists to compare journalistic practices and media regulation between Germany and Mongolia.

Following the end of the Soviet era, Mongolia introduced a number of laws to make reforms in public broadcasting, freedom of information and to prevent media censorship.

In 2010, Reporters without Borders ranked Mongolia in its Press Freedom Index at 76. This year Mongolia was ranked 98.

One topic that generated a lot of discussion was the so-called “list of forbidden words”. Journalists explained how Mongolia’s Communications Regulatory Commission (CRC) is under strong political pressure to make media organizations use software to filter or hide “forbidden words” in online reader comments that are critical of government or insulting.

To explore how Mongolia’s media is developing, onMedia spoke with Munkhmandakh Myagmar, Executive Director of the Mongolian Press Institute; and, Tserenjav Demberel, Executive Director of Transparency Foundation Mongolia, and a blogger on media issues.

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Il pleut à torrents. La pirogue chavire, mais Jérôme Demenou, le cameraman de l’équipe du Cameroun arrive à tenir son équilibre. La camera est bien protégée, mais les vêtements des journalistes sont trempés. Soudain, le cameraman s’arrête: « Je n’entends plus rien », dit-il. A cause de la pluie, le micro a cessé de fonctionner. Nous sommes sur le fleuve Wouri, non loin de Douala, la capitale économique du Cameroun. Les trois reporters préparent un film sur la jacinthe d’eau, une plante dévastatrice qui menace les côtes. Jérôme avance avec précaution dans la pirogue et accroche le micro-cravate au col de l’ancien pêcheur David, notre protagoniste: ‘Ça va, le son est bon’. Ouf, malgré les conditions difficiles, le tournage peut continuer.

C’est avec beaucoup d’engagement que quatre équipes venant d’Algérie, du Congo Brazzaville, du Bénin et du Cameroun se sont réunies à Douala pour une formation sur les grands reportages TV, dans le cadre du projet « Histoires Africaines II ». Après deux semaines de travaux intensifs, nous sommes parvenus à achever quatre films de 12 minutes. Les participants ont essayé de nouvelles techniques. Ils ont filmé avec une camera en mouvement, ils ont enregistré des interviews en pleine action.

Et voilà leurs films.

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In the latest installment of African Stories, see how garbage is turned into energy, hear about the fight against a devastating banana disease and meet Kampala’s grandfather of electronics as well as an AIDS activist determined to speak out about the disease.

The feature reports were recently produced as part of the 2013 African Stories series of workshops for TV journalists, camera operators, cutters and technicians (scroll to the bottom of the post to see the videos).

TV stations from 16 English and French speaking African countries are taking part in the long-term project to sharpen their skills and at the same time, produce compelling stories about everyday people and everday lives in Africa (you can find out more about the African Stories project here).

In August, TV teams from Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda met in Kampala for an 11-day workshop. This time, the DW Akademie trainers stepped up the challenge by introducing techniques for filming with a moving camera – a skill that needs some practice.

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The smell was nauseating and the sight quite a depressing one. The ten participants of the Climate Change Workshop in Chennai / India, along with the two trainers and our guide, had just scrambled up to the top of a building to get a better view of the Kodungaiyur dumpyard in the northern part of the city. We were there to see how waste disposal, unregulated construction, and short-sighted transportation and energy policies were harming the environment and contributing to climate change by releasing greenhouse gases and paving over important carbon sinks like wetlands.

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Le projet ‘Histoires Africaines’ prend de l’élan. La phase des coproductions a commencé. Suite aux formations au sujet de grands reportages TV à Dakar et à Douala, un jury en Allemagne a choisi les équipes de coproductions. Par contre, avant de commencer le tournage, il y avait du travail à faire : Les journalistes et techniciens africains ont dû choisir, puis soumettre trois sujets. Ensuite le jury et la rédaction du magazine Global se sont réunis pour développer le sujet en question et ceci, en étroite collaboration avec leurs collègues africains. L’échange de mails et d’appels téléphoniques se suivait à plus vite allure.

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“C’est où votre péripétie?” demande Ramata Konaté. Ibrahima Keita la regarde. Il montre du doigt au mur où il a collé son story-board: “C’est ici que le ramasseur du sel compte ses bassines de sel.”

Nous sommes à Dakar en pleine session de formation. Quatre équipes de télé, venant de quatre pays différents, chacune composées d’un journaliste, d’un caméraman et d’un monteur se sont réunis pour suivre la première session du projet Histoires Africaines II.

C’est le dernier jour de préparation, demain les tournages commencent. Le but de ces deux semaines de formation: Tourner des grands reportages de qualité. Après des exercices de prise de vue et de longues discussions sur les sujets et leurs dramaturgies les participants ont planifié leurs tournages respectifs. Une fois sur le terrain la réalité en est une autre, mais nos équipes font preuve de la flexibilité et de l’acharnement. Ils montent leurs reportages jusque tard dans la nuit, s’appliquent pour écrire un texte pertinent et bricolent jusqu’à ce que le son d’ambiance colle à cent pour cent. Et voici quatre grands reportages réussis.

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