A five-day journalism skills improvement-training workshop for journalist opened on Monday at the Tango Office’s, Fajara M. Section.

The training, which is been attended by 30 journalists from both print and electronic media across the country, is organised by the Gambia Press Union (GPU). The training is supported by the Capacity Building Project of West African Journalists Association (CBP-WAJA) and the African Capacity Building Foundation.

The objectives of the course are, amongst others, to improve the understanding of participants, on ethics of journalism, the media and the law, to improve their perspectives, techniques and skills on news collection and news writing.

In her welcoming remarks, Ndey Tapha Sosseh, President of GPU, said that the forum is a unique opportunity for participants, most of whom are mid-career journalists, to not only learn new things but to share experiences. She reaffirmed her organisation’s resolve in building the capacities of its members and the entire fraternity of Gambian journalists.

Mr. Alpha Sall, WAJA Capacity Building Project Co-ordinator, said that WAJA is a consortium of journalists associations in the ECOWAS sub region including Mauritania. He added that The Gambia is a very active and important member of the regional body thus assuring their support for Gambian journalists.

Abdou Karim Sonko, Permanent Secretary deputising the Secretary of State for Information, Communication and Technology, praised the GPU for the initiative, as it will improve the work of the journalists.

He said that journalists are pertinent and have a critical role to play for the country’s socio-economic development. He informed journalists that their duty is to seek for truth and provide a fair, comprehensive and balanced account of events and issues. In conclusion he said, “it’s my fervent hope that this type of training will definitely breed a new generation of seasoned and more responsible journalists who will not use their so called ‘freedom of the press’ by infringing on others’ freedom.”