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YOUTH VOICE - AFGHANISTAN

Saday-e-Jawan (Dari) / Zwan Ghag (Pashto)

Student training center opens in Khost, Afghanistan - Sayara Media, 2005

Contact details

Sayara Media
Michael Dwyer
NJTP Project Manager
+93(0)79032410
Email: michaeldwyer@sayara-media.com
Website: www.sayara-media.com

Location

Afghanistan

Project partners

• Sayara Media
• Afghan Ministry of Higher Education
• Universities in Herar, Marzar-i-Sharif, Jalalabad, Khost and Kandahar

Background

In recent decades university journalism training in Afghanistan has been theory-based and largely shaped by Soviet standards. Decades of war have also reduced the capability of the higher education sector to meet the needs of students. Sayara Media and Communication’s Novice Journalism Training Program (NJTP) is helping to change this. A new generation of Afghan journalists is now studying in Afghan universities and the NJTP is equipping these students with the practical skills they will need to provide professional reportage for the people of Afghanistan.
The NJTP is a national project developed by Sayara and managed in coordination with the Ministry of Higher Education and five regional universities in Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif, Jalalabad, Khost and Kandahar. NJTP training has also taken place at Kabul University.
Sayara works with the universities as they are key institutions that will be here long after the reconstruction programs wind-down. The infrastructure, training, broadcasting experience, curriculum development and links to industry provided through Sayara’s NJTP will have long-term benefits for the universities, the broadcasting industry and journalism education in Afghanistan.

Aims & Objectives

Under the NJTP Sayara has established radio production facilities in the five regional universities. Herat University has its own radio station, while the other regional universities have studios to produce programs for local independent radios or for on-campus loudspeaker systems. More than 200 students have received intensive radio journalism and broadcasting training.
Radio programs produced by NJTP students are broadcast under the name Youth Voice. Programming includes news bulletins, comedy, education, social issues, music and entertainment. One programming highlight was the extensive coverage of the October 2004 Presidential Election. The students also produce a national weekly news and current affairs program, using FTP to transfer audio files around the country.
Youth Voice also the name of the national network of student radio journalists established under the NJTP. This network puts students from different regions in close communication, promoting cooperation and understanding in opposition to ethnic, linguistic and historical divisions. NJTP students are in email contact, they assist each other in reporting major stories and meet in person.
These meetings include two national conventions, a visit by 30 NJTP students from Kabul, Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif to their counterparts at Jalalabad’s Nangarhar University, and a broadcast by students from Kabul, Herat and Mazar from the national celebration of International Women’s Day.

Training

Sayara has established Training Media Centres at the five regional universities working with the NJTP. These centres are equipped with computers and Internet access, with professional training and supervision provided by Sayara staff. Students are trained in operating systems, office applications, typing (English, Dari and Pashto), and use of the Internet for communication and research. Internet access is also used by student journalists as they prepare their stories, for student communication and transfer of audio files, and by other students and faculty staff.

Sayara Media and Communication

Sayara is a private organization registered in Afghanistan and operated by staff with extensive local and international experience in journalism training, multilingual publishing, educational theatre, communication strategy development, research, and project management.

READ THE JUNE 2005 PRESS RELEASE
"Student Radio Opens at Khost University"

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