Seminar Workshop on ICT tools for Journalism

Interviewed by Amy Banda

US EMBASSY YAOUNDE: Seminar Workshop on ICT Tools for Journalism.

This two day workshop brought together journalist, techies and embassy staff in a bit to demonstrate and explore the power of publication, engaging audience online via text, audio and video storytelling, maximizing impact on news reports beyond time shifts and classical broadcasting.

The training ignited the famous conversation on censorship from others and self. Should the journalist air his or her views beyond editorial lines or should he/she play the cooperate ethics game in the detriment of personal convictions?

Professor Corey Takahashi, from the Syracuse University in New York took the diplomatic stand: «In journalism, 1+1=3, the best camera is what you have at hand, I don’t judge, but would let you guys know that in the US if you won’t publish for any reason, you can always pass the stuff on to a colleague…” Excel Asama, CEO of I-Vission International had a different conception from some of the participants on the theory of freedom of expression and financial dependency. He refused to take back home the opinion that “if you don’t have money, just publish what the big boys and the establishments want” he argued further that fear and ignorance are two adjacent illusions that will always obstruct a man from reaching personal convictions and that those who succeed in journalism today are independent and motivated and not dependent and oppressed.