Dates: 5-7 April 2013
Region: Dakhla, Morocco
How to get the attention of the media was the main topic of the workshop that the Media Diversity Institute organised for representatives of civil society organizations (CSO) from the region of Southern Morocco (Sahara Region). Its aim was to strengthen their understanding of the media and media relations.
The workshop, held in Dakhla, in April 2013, was the latest in a series of five MDI workshops organised to improve communication between the civil sector and the media.
Like in other parts of Morocco, the representatives of non-governmental organisations and civil society have experienced difficulties in communicating with the media. They have found it extremely challenging and stressful to get the media interested in their stories and issues.
Therefore MDI provided an opportunity for better understanding of what the media require and how activists can increase their ability to promote their messages and get their voices heard through the use of the media.
During the three-day workshop, Sahrawi participants learnt practical communication skills. They focused on their daily life issues, which could become interesting stories for the media. The trainees also learnt how to build professional working relationships with editors and journalists and practised how to give effective TV interviews.
The MDI workshop was the first practical experience on learning how to interact with the media for the majority of the participants. It was also an opportunity to work with journalists who are based in Dakhla and provide information for the national Moroccan media.
Journalists – Hassan Nadir (Chada FM) and Zakaria Ait Abdelmjid (2M Regional Director) – advised the participants on how to approach the media : when is the best time and the most effective way to contact journalists, and how to make civil sector topics newsworthy. On the other hand, the CSOs analysed local press reporting and found that some social groups are missing from news coverage.
The MDI workshop in Dakhla, according to the personal statements of some of the participants, was an opportunity to learn and practise practical skills such as writing a press release or giving an interview. Others, as some wrote in their personal learning diaries, “have learnt how to be pro-active and how to avoid stereotypes.”
The training session was organised within the framework of the Media Diversity Institute’s two year project ‘Media Evolution: Towards an Inclusive, Responsible & Independent Media in Morocco’, which is supported by the European Union Delegation, and UK and Swiss Embassies in Rabat.
The objectives of the project are to encourage a public debate on the future of the Moroccan media, ensure greater coverage of social diversity in the media, improve freedom of expression and access to information, ensure greater responsibility by the media through self-regulation, and improve respect of media freedom by the government.
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