Four full days in the comfortable warm atmosphere of the charitable Salem Social Cafe. Training in journalism. Practical classes. A debating tournament. Tasty lunches, interesting games. New acquaintances and lots of socially active young people.
Those taking part in the workshop for media and debate were kept busy. Using the British format of parliamentary debate as a model, they studied the theory of debating, learnt how to structure a talk, how to do analysis and select their argument.
The trainers and organisers of the event were all graduates from the Central Asian Media Programme, ‘The Promotion of Media Literacy and Journalistic Ethics among Young People in Central Asia.’
During the programme workshops, those taking part were taught the basics of journalism – writing texts, checking authentic information, and the basics of story-telling – and debating theory, including key skills of public speaking.
During the Media Camp there was also an open session called iTalk, a talk given in the syle of TED or PechaKucha, in which an invited speaker, Salem’s Director Arman Kushkimbaev, gave a talk on the theme ‘Business isn’t the same as personal gain’.
In a world where ‘fake news’ is a big area of concern to many in some parts of the world, how refreshing to see young people learning the basics of presenting the right information in the right way.
