| Isabel Vega Journalism trainee “Pro Periodismo” Bolivia |
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«The media have a great responsibility, especially when it comes to covering human rights abuses. But for this we need journalists with the necessary knowledge and skills. That’s what I’m learning in this traineeship, and that’s how I can help improve reporting standars in Bolivia».
Bolivia
«Pro Periodismo» is Latin America’s first
dual journalism training program. Its innovative, hands-on, multimedia approach is attracting aspiring journalists who want to improve the quality of reporting in Bolivia.
Isabel Vega receives a cheerful welcome as she enters the class— room on Monday morning wearing a colorful scarf wrapped around tier head to tame her hair. She and the other fourteen trainees greet each other and exchange hugs, These are the first students taking part in a new multimedia journalism traineeship called “Pro Periodismo” that’s being conducted at the journalism association Fundación para el Periodismo (FPP) in La Paz. It’s the start of the fourth of nine practical seminar modules. This time the focus is on multimedia cultural reporting. The young jour-nalists simulate a radio editorial team and everyone has a role to play -as reporters, hosts creditor-in-chief.
They get down to work, intensively discussing potential topics for the program. “lt’s great working together because we all bring a different kind of work experience to the table.” save Vega. She herself has spent the last year working as a video editor for the Catholic news agency Fides. The Traineeship offers one-week practical seminars at the FPP where Bolivian and German lecturers cover topics such as data journalism, election reporting or political reporting. In between the modules, students return to their workplace and apply what they’ve just learned. “This is a new approach in the region as a whole – no other Latin American country offers a professional training program with a practical component like this,» says
