CHISHIMBA BWALYA
Cairo
JOURNALISTS attending this year’s Union of African Journalists Training in Cairo, Egypt have been urged to “tell their story” and highlight challenges within their profession.
The 60th edition of the training, which has been organised by the Union of African Journalists and Egypt’s Supreme Council for Media Regulations (SCMR) has brought together young journalists from 25 African countries.
Among some of the countries represented is: Zambia, Ghana, Malawi, Algeria, South Africa, Ivory Coast, Chad, Mali, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Morocco and Zimbabwe.
Speaking during the official opening of the event on Saturday, Zambia Union of Journalists president Darlington Mwendabai, who was guest of honour, implored participants of the three-week long training session to grow their profile.
“What we have noticed among ourselves is, it’s very good that we tell that story about others and how they are struggling and how they are happy, but who tells the story of the journalist?”
He said African journalists should strive to improve their lives as they also help others do the same
“Most of us journalists when we die, we have got very good names, and we laugh back home in Zambia saying we are going to show our children the bylines, but we will have no wealth that we are going to point at to say okay this is my 30 years of my career. I may not even own a bicycle, I will remain homeless,” he said.
“And so that is not a story we want our young journalists to experience and die as economic destitutes. But, even as you are talking about who is who in terms of being wealthy, we should also include journalists.”
The ZUJ president also urged the media professionals not to compete but embrace collaboration amongst themselves while emphasising the need for them to embrace their unique story-telling abilities.
Mr Mwendabai who is also a trained psychologist further called on the young reporters to improve their mental health and be stress-free as they go about their work
“The mental health issue is a very big issue, journalists are constrained, you can see the stress on their faces because of trying to get the story to the people and their mental health is not taken care of.
“In the newsroom, we want to advocate wellness, so that as we tell the story about our communities, we should be happy people who are stress free.”
Ambassador Ahmed Haggag urged the journalists to establish connections and raise awareness in their stories, including on issues within their profession.
Rim Hendy, a member of Egypt’s Supreme Council for Media Regulations urged the journalists to make use of the opportunity to exchange skills.
The training will include sessions of trade and african integration as well as investigative reporting.
