We delivered an extensive training programme for journalists ahead of the local and presidential elections in Yemen in September 2006.
The objective was to improve the standard of reporting for the elections and to provide lasting professional skills to the trainees.
Over 300 journalists, editors and managers from a wide range of media organisations participated in refresher courses and workshops.
These were run by international and national trainers for print, broadcast and online journalism.
To test the effectiveness of the initiative, the Research & Learning Group used content analysis to measure the influence of the training on participants and their organisations
The study included samples of participating organisations' output before and after training.
Analysis of this output prior to the training gave us valuable insights into the organisations' training needs and the Yemeni media landscape.
These samples were analysed, and the data placed in categories that covered the three components of journalistic quality targeted by the training:
- Content of output
- Presentation of output
- Production elements
Following the training, the content analysis revealed that journalists had a better idea of how to produce news bulletins to a higher professional standard:
- Headlines became shorter and more concise (radio)
- Live, on-location interviews increased (TV)
- Explicitly positive mentions of the president decreased (web)
- News bulletins contained more live, on-location footage
The findings reveal the complexity of delivering journalism training and the challenges involved in capturing evidence of impact.
The research was published in a report as part of the second series of dissemination papers produced by the Research & Learning Group.