Ahead of Sierra Leone’s June 2023 multi-tier elections, the United States Embassy in Freetown has conducted a 3-day training for 15 journalists from the Africa Young Voices (AYV) Media Empire on elections coverage best practices.
With support from the Africa Regional Support services in Paris, experienced broadcast journalist, Eduardo Cue covered different elections topics with the journalists.
The focus of the training was on ‘Elections’ with the exploration of underlying themes such as: ‘The art of the interview, fact checking, fake news, social media, sources, verifying information, organising coverage of an election, managing information, the use of quotes.’
Public Affairs Officer at the US Embassy, Sarah Van Horne said: “The role of journalists is essential to any democracy. Journalists play an important role in creating an environment for free, fair, peaceful and multiparty elections. We hope that this training on election coverage best practices will be useful for journalists as they report on the lead up to the elections.
Director of Training at AYV, Rosetta Fourlagawo said: “This training programme means a lot to me and the members of staff whom I support. It will confirm their work as storytellers as well as, spark ideas for our upcoming coverage; how to deal with sources, the art of a (great political) interview, fact checking, fake news and most importantly for us, a reminder that we’re all public servants and not necessarily experts of the system we’re surrounded by/a part of”.
In a related development, a training exercise on Emergency First-Aid Response was conducted by the US Embassy in Freetown targeting journalists from both the Print and Electronic Media in Freetown.
Press and Media Coordinator at the US Embassy in Freetown, Alhassan Jalloh, underscored the need to equip journalists with basic life-saving skills or coping mechanisms that could be usefully administered during certain emergency situations furthering that it was thought fit to organise such against the backdrop of the country going to the polls on the 24th June, 2023.
The Medical Attache of the US Embassy in Freetown, Dr. Kathlene Horsley, who served as the Lead Facilitator pointed out that the aim of the training is not geared towards transforming journalists into medical doctors but rather to equip them with lifesaving skills as they cover events that may degenerate into chaos.
She stated that journalists will be trained on how to be first responders in case of emergencies especially on applying MARCH – Massive Hemorrhage, Airway, Respiration, Circulation, and Hypothermia.
One, among, key First Aid skills imparted was how to prevent massive and continuous hemorrhage (bleeding) of which in such a situation it was advised to ensure that an individual’s airway is clear and free from obstruction, identify respiratory distress and attend to it, ensure the promotion of blood circulation and make sure the individual who is being attended to does not lose heat and develop hypothermia.
