Training Session for Journalism Students

Students of IITU played Access to Information story © UNESCO Almaty

14 April 2016

On 15 April 2016 the International Information Technology University (IITU) in Almaty organized in cooperation with UNESCO Almaty Office a special training session with the students of the Faculty of Journalism, where they modeled real situations on access to information between government officials and citizens.

We are interested in training on the development of journalism curricula, especially on data journalism. UNESCO has interesting indicators on gender aspects in media: the image and role of women and men in advertising and content.

Ms.Aigul Niyazgulova, Chair of e-journalism, International Information Technology University, Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Students played a performance with a positive and ф negative scenarios of interaction between information holders and civil clients. This performance included in particular scenes of a proactive e-publication of the decisions by the local governance authorities, as well as a scene of information provision denial to citizens.

A special discussion devoted to the digital opportunities and barriers in the information provision for vulnerable groups was organized.

As Kazakhstan adopted the Access to Information Law, the students debated the analysis of its compatibility with the Freedom of Information principles, as well as a legislative approach in problems resolutions.

The students tried also to answer the question on how to improve the access to information and how to ease the use of it, including through the application of information and communication technologies and the use of data journalism.

In this context, Ms.Aigul Niyazgulova, Chair of e-journalism, IITU, requested a consultation to improve the model of journalism curricula which was welcomed by the UNESCO Almaty Office.

This training is a contribution to a series of events related to the World Press Freedom Day in Central Asia - 2016: Access to Information and Fundamental Freedoms: This Is Your Right!

This event promotes specifically the right to information and contributes to the Sustainable Development Goal #16: Peace, justice and effective institutions.