success story

April 2009

USAID’s media training program Aswatona has trained approximately 140 journalists from the West Bank and Gaza. Working with both radio and television, these young journalists have participated in practical training in reporting techniques and journalistic standards.

When asked about the usefulness of the trainings, all of those who took part in the evaluation of the program responded positively. Said one participant, "We came to the training courses knowing bits of pieces about many topics. We left back home with more knowledge of the basic work we did prior to the training."

Most importantly, Aswatona has worked with the journalists to better cover local stories and to do background research and interviews on pressing social topics. According to the evaluation, after just one year the training helped increase the percentage of community related production programs in the stations involved from 86% to 93%. The participants believe that the stories they are now producing using the skills they learned in the training is having a real impact on the local community and political leaders.

Although there are many station and individual “success” stories, three in particular stand out.

A young female reporter, Fida’a Hantash from Baladna TV in Qalqilya, is on the front lines reporting news for the station, saying she felt empowered by skills developed in the training and workshops. By doing so, she is challenging the stereotypes of her community. When asked why she does it, she said, “I seek to be distinguished; there are no women journalists in our region [of Qalqilya].”

A young male journalist in Jenin put his training to work for an investigative piece on a kindergarten that was considered for demolition. Fakhri Abu Alrob from Jenin Merkezi TV heard rumors that the land the school was sitting on was slated to be part of a new Israeli military base. Using the skills he had learned, he talked to all those involved, developed the storyboard and produced an in-depth news piece. After it was aired locally on the Aswatona-funded Sada Filistene program, local organizations got involved in trying to save the school. The story was then picked up by a satellite channel and international organizations got involved and saved the school.

Another young woman who had been working at the local TV station while attending University to study computer science decided to add journalism after attending a number of workshops and trainings. Layaly Kilani, a news presenter at Gama TV, said, “The most useful lessons learned from Internews trainings were primarily how to write stories and present them in a manner that is both informative and entertaining. The roundtable for women journalists allowed us to better understand our role as female journalists in the West Bank. We shared our thoughts, experiences, and began to realize that we are unified in our passion to be journalists.” She is now doing mini-dramas on pressing social issues like early marriage, women’s rights, and the importance of education for broadcast on a program she developed. Her most recent film is called “If You Say Yes or No” about relationships between daughters and their fathers in making life choices. Layaly added, “Whether you are a man or a woman, once you realize what your dream is, you have to do whatever it takes to achieve it.”