Print and broadcast journalists from across Malawi will from 7 to 9 June converge in Zomba for a three-day media training on maternal health being organised by PSAf, with funding from the UK Department for International Development (DfID).
The training, which will take place at Hotel Masongola in Zomba as part of the PSAf Health Programme activities in Malawi, will also cover issues of education for girls, gender and access to justice for women and girls to add value to effective media stories on maternal health.
The 15 trainees or participants will comprise print news editors, print features editors, radio and television managers, print features writers and radio and television producers. These are expected to be journalists who are self-driven, motivated and determined in reporting development issues in Malawi, particularly issues of maternal health.
The workshop will see at least three broadcast and seven print journalists being awarded fellowships to write issue based stories that will stimulate policy and public debate on development issues in Malawi. It is also expected that within three months after the training, at least 30 broadcast outputs comprising documentaries, news and feature stories will be aired on different radio and television stations. In print, the participants are expected to produce 25 research based articles on issues around maternal health and justice for women and girls in Malawi.
In addition to the mass media outputs, a publication containing synopses of prominent stories from the project will be compiled and published for targeted dissemination in the 4th month after the training.
The training will be done under PSAf’s Health Programme, in collaboration with the Media Development and ICTs programme through the communicating research initiative (RELAY) that links media to research/science. The mainstreaming of RELAY into this initiative will enhance the media’s capacity to communicate research. The workshop and all subsequent outputs are courtesy of support from the DfID’s support to PSAf’s Maternal Health Media Fellowship Programme in Malawi.
