The project aimed to increasing the capacity of Investigative and
Responsible Journalism – which used institutionalized sustainable media structures in Pakistan to raise the bar of journalistic standards. The project developed the capacity of a cadre of journalists trained in producing counter-narrative content, which offset extremist ideology and undermine the credibility of radicalizers and recruiters. The project worked with institutions responsible for undertaking such capacity-building initiatives. It set workflows, guidelines and benchmarking mechanism as well as training programs so the relevant institutions were able to take ownership.
The project had been designed in manner to empower the Government of Pakistan to demand responsible, investigative journalism of the kind needed to tackle the causes and spaces for extremism.
The initiative was carried forth in collaboration with the Press Clubs and the Journalists’ Associations, whereby the journalist community had been encouraged to undertake the responsibility of creating such initiatives on their own.
At the workshop the media owners were also encouraged to replicate similar initiatives, which in collaboration with the right stakeholders steered the momentum generated by the project. As a capacity building initiative working within Pakistani institutions and drawing public support for its objectives, this project was designed to be sustainable.
By the end of the project, cadres of identified, trained responsible journalists exist around the country with the skills to write useful counter-narrative and market their stories to local, national and international press. This is self-sustaining but success towards this goal continues to be measured through monitoring of media to keep track of content produced. Reaction to and engagement with the responsible media awards indicate levels of demand created at public and institutional level for responsible journalism suggesting likelihood for success.
ACHIEVEMENTS:
480 Journalists Trained on Investigative Journalism and Responsible Media Reporting across Pakistan and AJK
The project was concluded with the conduct of AGAHI AWARDS 2012, wherein a number of journalists trained in Capacity Building Workshops participated and submitted their published content for a fair assessment by a large team of well renowned Pakistani and International journalists, intellectuals and media personnel.
Based on assessment Journalism Awards were awarded in 20 different categories.
The award ceremony relished international recognition and was admired by a count of International entities and personalities of Media and Journalism. AGAHI AWARDS 2012 was the first ever recognition of Pakistani journalists. A large number of NGOs, government agencies, academia and private entities partnered Mishal in this project.
ACHIEVEMENT:
Participated by 500 Journalists at the Awards More than 700 submissions received for 15 categories from across the country.
