SDNP holds seminar for NWFP's Press Clubs on online journalism

September 12, 2001

SDNP Peshawar held a 4-day seminar on "NWFP Press Clubs: Role and Responsibilities" at the Peshawar University's summer campus Baragali, Abbottabad on September 8-11, 2001 for the district correspondents hailing from almost all the press clubs of NWFP including Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). It was organized in collaboration with IUCN-SPCS Support Unit, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Peshawar, Peshawar Press Club, and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), Islamabad.

Dr. Shahjehan Sayed, Chairman Department of Journalism and Mass Communication University of Peshawar while inaugurating the workshop, welcomed all the district correspondents and hoped for a constructive journalism and balanced reporting experience at the end of the seminar. "The increasing disunity among the various groups of the district press clubs is a dangerous thing for the journalistic community and should be brought to an end immediately", said Sohail Qalandar, President Peshawar Press Club while addressing the seminar. He urged the participants to set up a body to resolve disputes among the various groupings of local press clubs. The seminar was also addressed by Abid Hussain, Information Manager SDNP and Gunter Lehrke, Resident Representative Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES). They offered their all out support to the capacity building of media men, especially those working in the rural areas.

The main focus of the seminar was online and environmental journalism. "Online journalism holds many promises for the district correspondents who are geographically distanced from their respective newspapers' head offices and are devoid of access to rich information resource bases in the big metropolis." This was stated by Mukhtar A. Khan, Information Officer IUCN-SDNP while briefing the district correspondents of NWFP and FATA.

In the backdrop of multifaceted problems being faced by the district correspondents, Mukhtar advised them that if they want to make strides in the new media, they must practice online journalism. It has the potential to open up new vistas of communication which can reduce their dependency on the limited media channels in the country, and offer limitless opportunities to fill information gaps with the help of the Internet. He urged the participants to specialize in a particular field to make their niche in the international media so as to convert dependency into interdependency and greater synergy among journalists. "Environmental journalism is one such specialized discipline which offers a wide range of issues that can be covered by an environmental reporter for both the national and international media using online journalism", said Mukhtar. He elaborated on how to become an environmental journalist and demonstrated before them the techniques involved in online journalism.

The seminar was attended by around 75 correspondents working in various dailies and magazines in their respective districts. They requested the organizers that in future, too, they should be should be provided refresher courses in journalism along with some advanced courses in Information Technology.