The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), with funding from the World Bank, has launched a nation-wide journalism training initiative to improve the quality and focus of reporting on HIV and AIDS. Training will focus on media techniques for respecting the privacy and other rights of people living with HIV or AIDS, as well as techniques to avoid stigmatising them.

Journalists also will be taught how to use non-governmental and non-profit organisations as news sources, plus how to sensitively report the care of sick people as well as get tips for reporting the latest research into the disease.

A four-day training workshop has already been held in Edo State, and follow-up workshops are planned in north Nigeria. Training will expand even further starting in January 2004 as it will commence in all 36 of Nigeria’s states.

The programme will also see all NUJ branch and regional leaders receive advanced training on AIDS reporting, before being rolled out to other union members. Similar initiatives also are planned for two of Nigeria’s other biggest professional media bodies, the Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE) and the National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ).

Anyone interested in participating in the initiative should contact JAAIDS media programs officer Constance Ndubuisi-Enyali at constanz@nigeria-aids.org.

Source: www.ijnet.org