Training opportunities available for journalists failing to meet actual demands — study

AMMAN — While training programmes are available for journalists and media professionals in the Kingdom, courses tend to overlap due to lack of coordination, and they sometimes fail to meet actual demand in the sector, a study has revealed.

The study — conducted by the Jordan Media Institute (JMI), UNESCO and Canal France International — found that there is a lack of coordination among providers of media training, according to a JMI statement released on Monday.

Titled “Training Needs for the Jordan Media Sector”, the study covered a sample of 250 journalists, who received training over the past two years, and 40 managers and chief editors.

The study said training sometimes does not meet the actual needs of reporters and the media sector. 

It also fails to respond to the rapid progress of communication technologies, which requires by necessity conducting regular evaluation of training needs and the effect of training on journalists, the statement said. 

The study recommends holding panel discussions for heads of large and medium-sized media institutions on topics that include quality standards in management, building successful economic models in the media and planning and managing modern media institutions. 

Data journalism topped the general training needs of journalists at 91 per cent, followed by fact checking news, coverage of conflict, reporting on social affairs and managing newsrooms, according to the study. 

Eighty six per cent of the journalists polled in the study said training should also focus on research skills and data gathering, followed by managing newsrooms, photojournalism, interviews and survey journalism.