Online courses overcome violence and storms
By Gareth Weekes The real world kept intruding on the CPU's latest online training courses, but 43 journalists from 20 Commonwealth countries overcame all odds to complete their studies. Many Kenyan delegates suddenly found themselves swept up in the violence that followed the disputed election. The short-lived chaos that followed the assassination of Benazir Bhutto made life difficult for reporters in Pakistan. There was a devastating cyclone in Bangladesh, tribal turbulence in Papua New Guinea and power cuts in Botswana. Even the course tutor, Gareth Weekes, was not immune. He was briefly marooned by flooding at his home in southwest England - and his course website crashed. Two courses ran simultaneously between October and February. One was a new Business Journalism course and the other an improved and lengthened version of Basic Journalism and Ethics. Both consisted of eight units either posted on the Internet or emailed direct to delegates. They were set assignments that they then emailed back to Gareth. "I had to take an elastic attitude to deadlines this time," he said. "Momentous events were taking place - especially in Kenya. Reporters were either being called away to cover the story, or could not get into the office or were actually caught up in the violence at home." "Despite the distractions, most of them put an immense amount of work into the course and some very fine assignments were returned." Gareth, a former UK provincial daily newspaper editor and now director of the communications agency Deep South Media, wrote the Business Journalism course in response to requests from Commonwealth editors. "I hope editors are pleased with the outcome," he said. "I tried not to make it too technical. I kept reminding delegates that I was not trying to turn them into financial experts. I wanted to give them confidence to approach the subject in ways that would appeal to general readers. There was heavy emphasis on human interest - and on using independent experts." The Basic Journalism and Ethics course - which first ran a year ago - was lengthened from seven units, with greater emphasis on interviewing techniques. "I am trying to encourage reporters to stop accepting so many statements at face value and start asking many more questions."
By Gareth Weekes The real world kept intruding on the CPU's latest online training courses, but 43 journalists from 20 Commonwealth countries overcame all odds to complete their studies. Many Kenyan delegates suddenly found themselves swept up in the violence that followed the disputed election. The short-lived chaos that followed the assassination of Benazir Bhutto made life difficult for reporters in Pakistan. There was a devastating cyclone in Bangladesh, tribal turbulence in Papua New Guinea and power cuts in Botswana. Even the course tutor, Gareth Weekes, was not immune. He was briefly marooned by flooding at his home in southwest England - and his course website crashed. Two courses ran simultaneously between October and February. One was a new Business Journalism course and the other an improved and lengthened version of Basic Journalism and Ethics. Both consisted of eight units either posted on the Internet or emailed direct to delegates. They were set assignments that they then emailed back to Gareth. "I had to take an elastic attitude to deadlines this time," he said. "Momentous events were taking place - especially in Kenya. Reporters were either being called away to cover the story, or could not get into the office or were actually caught up in the violence at home." "Despite the distractions, most of them put an immense amount of work into the course and some very fine assignments were returned." Gareth, a former UK provincial daily newspaper editor and now director of the communications agency Deep South Media, wrote the Business Journalism course in response to requests from Commonwealth editors. "I hope editors are pleased with the outcome," he said. "I tried not to make it too technical. I kept reminding delegates that I was not trying to turn them into financial experts. I wanted to give them confidence to approach the subject in ways that would appeal to general readers. There was heavy emphasis on human interest - and on using independent experts." The Basic Journalism and Ethics course - which first ran a year ago - was lengthened from seven units, with greater emphasis on interviewing techniques. "I am trying to encourage reporters to stop accepting so many statements at face value and start asking many more questions."
