A
total of 25 journalists have commenced a -month intensive court reporting
training at the University of The Gambia campus in Kanifing.
Funded
by Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), The Gambia Press Union
(GPU) is implementing the training in collaboration with the University of The
Gambia School of Journalism.
Saikou Jammeh, GPU secretary general said
court reporting has been an essential part of journalism in The Gambia, arguing
that there is a gap in terms of skills and competence of journalists who report
from the court. “We should understand how to write court matters. Therefore, it
most come to your knowledge as to who is who and what can and what cannot be
reported.”
He
said their intention is to have qualified and responsible journalists in the
field more especially court reporters.
Mr.
Jammeh said the training targets to correct some of the issues happening in
court reporting and more importantly to encourage specialization.
Nana
Grey Johnson, Dean of school of Journalism at UTG said court reporting require
skills and tools to foster its purpose and the application of corrective
measures which, he said will be seen after the training.
He
commenced GPU, University of The Gambia and OISWA for the foresight and
pro-activeness in ensuring that there is a healthy crop of people who are willing
to specialize in court reporting.
He
reminded journalists that as court reporters, it is of paramount significance
for them to quote and decide styles of words they use in terms of reporting on
court cases.