Media Monitoring training

Training on Media Monitoring, 16-17 October 2015, Stone Town, Zanzibar

To have an evidenced-based analysis on how the media reports on elections in Zanzibar, media monitoring skills are essential. Hence PROPEL, in collaboration with the Tanzania Media Women Association (TAMWA) , organized a media monitoring training, with the main objective of training journalists and civil society organizations in the field. The training was conducted on 16-17 October 2015 in Stone Town, Zanzibar, and was attended by 35 journalists; 30 from Unguja and 5 from Pemba.

The PROPEL representative, Leadership and Conflict Management trainer and CSO Expert Rindai Chipfunde-Vava, facilitators John Mirely and Asha Abdi, and the director of TAMWA in Zanzibar, Mzuri Issa, jointly led the participants through the challenging agenda on the details of media monitoring work. Mrs Chipfunde-Vava highlighted the crucial role of the media during the elections period, media being a trusted information channel and thus being in a key role in either exacerbating or mitigating conflict. Mrs Issa called for the media to take a stronger role in providing  unbiased information of the political situation.

As a way forward, the participants agreed to put resources for media advocacy, with a special attention on women in media. Especially women political leaders need to be given more coverage in the media. TAMWA will also make follow-up of the training, in order to see if the training has had an impact that can be seen in the published stories.