Published: 27 May 2015 г.
The Bureau for Investigative Journalism of the IWPR trained journalists of Bishkek and Talas oblast in the field of investigative journalism technologies.
During five days, the participants received information about all aspects of the investigation: preparation and planning, data collection methods, the use of open-source data, search for information on institutions, etc.
Information, expert, confrontational and general interview, as well as the use of multimedia tools for content creation in journalist investigations (infographics, longreads and other visual tools) - journalists consolidated their knowledge of these technologies during practical classes.
In addition, together with lawyers, they studied the topics of protection of sources, legal and non-legal risk, how to obtain information and documents from government agencies, which rights and responsibilities journalists and government officials had.
A separate section was about the verification of the facts and reliability of the information when conducting an investigation and publishing its results.
The trainer was Oleg Khomenok, a Ukrainian investigative journalist, coordinating a project to support investigative journalism in Ukraine. Legal aspects of investigations were discussed with the support of lawyers from the Institute for Media Policy, an IWPR partner within the project.
WHY INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
"Today, people need not just news information. Sooner or later, people begin to think about where the money of taxpayers goes, whether the people in power spend this money effectively, and thus they need media coverage of it, people need answers to many questions that only the media can give. Investigative journalists can fill this niche”, said Oleg Khomenok. - So I think that the investigation [in Kyrgyzstan] will develop in any case. The question is how fast and how effectively".
20 people participated in the training, where in addition to journalists (PTRC, ElTR, the Kyrgyz service of BBC, AKIpress news agency, Ozadagon, Kloop.kg et al.), there were also several representatives of governmental and non-governmental organizations (State Department for the Execution of Sentences, "Bir duyno - Kyrgyzstan", PF "League of Child Rights Defenders”, Association "Taza Shailoo" and others).
Journalists noted the need to improve the quality of Kyrgyz journalism, the greatest part of the content of which is filled with news and a little bit of analytics.
"In Kyrgyzstan, to meet the needs of society, it is necessary to develop the genre of investigative journalism, as not all government bodies are working honestly and transparently and corrupt schemes are actively used. All these negative phenomena must be identified, publicized and tackled with", said Nurgul Samatova, a correspondent from the TV program "Ala Too ".
"We need to organize more such trainings. I would like to note the system of the work: it is great that the Bureau is not just conducting training sessions and says goodbye to the journalists, but also continues to keep in touch with them, maintain and develop their desire to engage in investigative journalism", she added.
Reporters also said they were inspired by the work of the Ukrainian and Western colleagues, whose investigative materials were demonstrated during the training: on the seizure of public territories by the former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovich, on the corruption schemes of Yalta administration in tenders for construction works and others.
"What was important for me is that the trainer explained, provided step by step instructions when working on a journalist investigation: where to start, how to organize information, and how to act in certain situations. The services that have been demonstrated to us were also very helpful as they could help us in the work on financial fraud, just like other resource portals, websites and communities for self-development", said Nazira Dzhusupova, the editor of the portal Kyrgyzmedia.com, a website of community radio in Kyrgyzstan.
At the end of the training, the journalists presented their topics and plan of investigations, which they were going to do in the following two months - it was a prerequisite for participation in the training. The Bureau for Investigative Journalism of the IWPR will provide editorial and legal support at all stages of the investigations. Subsequent investigations will be paid by the Bureau for Investigative Journalism.
OPPORTUNITIES AFTER TRAINING
The Bureau for Investigative Journalism is an IWPR-funded project on the development of this genre in Kyrgyzstan, within which there will be a series of trainings for journalists from all regions, specialized literature will be published, mentoring, legal and financial assistance to Kyrgyz investigative journalists will provided.
The Bureau for Investigative Journalism, which was created with the Representative Office of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) in the Kyrgyz Republic, is supported by the project "Creating a culture of investigative journalism for furthering democratic reform: Linking human rights organizations, government and media”, which is supported by the European Union and the Government of Norway.
About the organization: The Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) is a British media organization, which provides support to journalists in crisis regions, developing and strengthening independent and quality journalism and reporting on the situation in these regions. It publishes analytical materials on the website www.iwpr.net. In Kyrgyzstan, the IWPR Representative office has been working since 1999.