Deadline: 23 April 2013

Region: UK, London

Worldwide journalists are invited to attend an intensive course on how to report on women’s issues organised by Trust Media, the Thomson Reuters Foundation training service.

The course, which will be held in London from the 27^th to the 31^st of May 2013, is “a lively and practical seminar designed to help journalists refine their skills, with particular emphasis on the coverage of women’s issues, their opinions and rights,” the Trust Media website reports.

Date: 15 April 2013

Country: Egypt

The Media Diversity Institute, in partnership with the highly respected Al Azhar University in Cairo, organized a media forum under the title “Media and Parliament: Tools of Modern Democracy” on 15 April 2013 in Cairo.

The debate held at Al Azhar University was attended by an audience of around 150, including media professionals, students, researchers, journalism professors, NGO representatives, politicians and diplomats based in Cairo.

The aim of the media forum was to bring together civil society, media and parliamentarians to discuss citizen-parliament interaction, the quality of media reporting on Parliament, inclusive media and its impact on politics, and on-going reforms in Egypt and freedom of expression. Speakers were representatives from civil society, the media and MPs from across the political spectrum, from Leftist and Liberal parties to Islamists. The moderator was Ayman El-Sayyad, writer and former advisor to the President.

Published: 18 April 2013

Country: US

by Aidan White

When media jump to dangerous conclusions in reporting acts of terrorism it can victimise the innocent and reinforce hatreds. This has been highlighted in coverage of the tragic events in Boston this week.

A twenty-year-old man watching the conclusion of the Boston Marathon had his body torn into by the force of the bomb, which killed three people and injured 176, many of them seriously.

But he was the only victim who, while in the hospital being treated for his wounds, had his apartment searched in “a startling show of force” according to neighbours who watched in amazement as police ransacked his apartment and took away some of personal belongings.

It was this action – as a result of racial profiling by the police – that provided the basis for a widely-criticised report in the  tabloid New York Post which boldly and inaccurately claimed that 12 people were killed in the explosions and, more alarmingly, that a "Saudi national who suffered shrapnel wounds" had been identified as "a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing."

Date: 14 April 2013

Country: Egypt

Media Diversity Institute Programme Director for Egypt, Hala Morgan, talked to the students at the South Valley University in Upper Egypt. She has presented MDI’s mission and programs to the undergraduate students of the Media Department of Faculty of Arts while attending the final presentations of some graduation projects of diversity.

“By promoting diversity and inclusiveness, MDI is helping media graduates to bridge the gap between the studies and the time of application. That is mainly by providing a Professional Diversity Curriculum Development Courses in cooperation with the distinguished media educators at the three Egyptian universities”, explained Morgan.

She has invited students to contribute to the webzine Ahna Keda that was built as a result of MDI’s workshop organized for 15 Egyptian students in November in Cairo.

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.