Dagestani Young Journalists in Search for Missing Voices

Dates: 2-6 November 2013

Country: Russia, Makhachkala

dagestan_real“I got the tools to pursue my idea of a tolerant society. In foreign media Dagestan is usually linked to terrorism.  But, there is much more than that in here. Majority of people here just live normal lives. And that’s what I want to write about”.

This is how Alida Alieva summarised  her experience of the training organised by MDI and held 2-6 November in the capital of the Northern Caucasus Republic of Dagestan.

The article she produced during the workshop  organised by the Media Diversity Institute (MDI) in partnership with the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ) and Dagestani Union of Journalists has been published in Caucasus Knot, a leading online magazine in Russian Language.

The objective of the 5-day workshop was to encourage journalists to see their society the way it is – diverse/multicultural/pluralistic, to help journalists develop their professional skills to better represent diversity in society through fair, well-researched and sympathetic coverage and to produce stories which would reflect the principles of responsible and inclusive journalism.

The Trainers, Milica Pesic, of MDI and Grigory Shvedov, founder and Chief Editor or the Caucasus Knot, specialised in North Caucasus, helped 17 young reporters from different media platforms and journalism students understand  and apply the principles of   responsible journalism as related to Dagestani diversity.

The training which combined presentation of MDI media monitoring of Dagestani media, practical exercises and the practical work was one in  the series MDI and  RUJ are holding across the Northern Caucasus. Following the workshops, the participants are expected to produce at least  three stories each. All articles will be available on MDI and RUJ websites, published in the mainstream media in Russia, and – the best among them – in the Caucasus Knot.

The workshops and the monitoring are part of the joint project of MDI and RUJ, “Fighting discrimination in Russia through tolerant and inclusive reporting”.

The project is being implemented in four Russian regions: Dagestan, Stavropol, Saratov and Sverdlovsk.

The Media Diversity Institute (MDI) work is supported by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.