Journalists Receive Training on Cambodia’s Rural Development

BY BUTH REAKSMEY KONGKEA

About 40 Cambodian media representatives and journalists from the newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations, and online news sources have attended a two-day workshop from July 18 – 19 2009 on “The Role of Journalism in Rural Development”. The workshop was held at Kirirom Hillside Resort, in Kampong Speu province.

The Training was conducted by the Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC) with financial support provided by the Friedrich-Naumann Stiftung fuer die Freiheit (FNS) organization.

The training focused on the roles and responsibilities of journalists in writing articles relating to agriculture and Cambodian domestic products in order to promote rural development, local products and national agricultural products and organic produce on the domestic market. Reporting stories about Cambodia’s irrigation systems and the matter of food security were also considered.

During the training, different topics and experiences related to agriculture and rural development were examined. The workshop also considered topics such as Ecological Agriculture, Saving for Self-reliance (SFR), Local Good Governance, Linking Farmers to the Markets and the Farmer and Nature Net (FNN).

Dr. Yang Saing Koma, CEDAC President, said this first workshop would enhance media participation in rural development work and increase their capacity to report the stories in a factual informative and serviceable manner.

The training also provided a vocabulary list with explanations of current agricultural and technical terminology, resulting in a strengthened understanding and a closer relationship between journalists, farmers and NGOs in Cambodia, said Dr. Saing Koma.

“The media has an important role to play in writing articles to promote social developments, covering both the successes and occasional failures. It must also play a part in describing the rapid advances in technology. The media provides essential support for our society, but the most important thing is that what kind of society do we want and how can the media help us arrive at this ideal,” he said at his opening remakes.

He continued, “We all want to be able to experience a bright future. I think that this workshop will equip journalists with all the necessary concepts relating to the agricultural sector. Used in conjunction with their journalistic skills, reporters will now be able to present a clear picture of agriculture and farming activities.”

He concluded with a call to farmers and reporters to work together for the sake of rural development.

Bin Bunna, a reporter from Radio FM 102, who participated at the training, said that he was pleased with the direction of CEDAC’s workshop.

“I appreciate the training because it has extended my knowledge base and given me a range of concepts to help me better understand the work of rural development, farming activities and agriculture in Cambodia. I will commit myself to working closely with farmers so that I can broadcast more stories about agriculture and rural development in future,” he said.

San Sophal, a reporter from the Sathapana Khmer Language newspaper, said that he was satisfied with the outcome of the CEDAC workshop. He said that he too was a wiser reporter for having attended the sessions.

“This is the first time that I have attended such a workshop. I learned a lots and I am now also able to cover a wide range of angles relating to agriculture, farmers and national agriculture-products in Cambodia,” he told The Southeast Asia Weekly. ////



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Laotian gets life for drug trafficking

Sorn Elit, the Tallest Cambodian Taekwando Champion

Chan Tra: Life of a Cambodian Traditional Tattoo Artist