The Gambia Press Union (GPU) in collaboration with the Young Journalists Association -The Gambia (YJAG), on Monday convened a two-day forum on Crime and Court Reporting designed for Reporters and Editors from various media outlets in the country.
The training, supported by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), was held at Metzy Hotel in Kotu. The training was aimed at addressing the challenges that journalists are faced with while reporting on crime and court cases, exposing participants to introduction to law, Gambia's legal systems, court processes and procedures, crime reporting, ethics of reporting crime, rules of court reporting, reporting on children, understanding media laws and ethics, and writing court stories.
The training also seeks to improve knowledge of the crime and court beat as well as writing and editing skills.
At the event, Muhammed S. Bah, president of The Gambia Press Union, noted that the training targeted 40 Court Reporters and News Editors from various Media houses across the country. "It's part of The Gambia Press Union mandate help Court Reporters to understand the legal system of the Gambia to enable in other to help Reporters report accurately without no misinterpretations."
Bah further urged the participants to take the training seriously in other to help the avoid misquotations and unethical reporting.
Babucarr Cham, chairman of the Media Council of The Gambia, reminded that the media being considered as the 4th estate, and also having the means to use a communication tool that can influence negatively or positively, requires media professionals to adhere to the strictest ethical standards to avoid controversial of bad practices that challenges ethics.
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"Ethics can be understood as a system for moral values that distinguish rules for behaviors based on an individual or group ideas of what good or bad journalism, ethics are the rules for behavior that guides journalists based on what society deems as right or wrong."
Cham thus congratulated GPU and the YJAG for engaging the reporters and editors on crime and court reporting.
Mama A Touray, senior reporter at the Voice Newspaper and a participant, expressed happiness to be part of the training, expressing optimism that the forum would exposed her and colleagues to thematic areas when it comes to court reporting.
She described the training as 'timely and worthy' as lots of the journalists are making lots of errors when it comes to reporting at the court.
