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20 - 28 February, 2006. The Swiss Consultancy Network Media4Democracy in cooperation with the OSCE Academy conducted a Winter School on Journalism with financial support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Canada. The training was moderated by Mr. Andre Loersch, independent media expert, Swiss Consultancy Network Media4Democracy. The overall objective of the Winter School was the establishment of a regional network of journalists and editors with increased professional capacity and knowledge on free and objective media within a democratic context. 21 journalists, editors and trainers from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan took part in the Winter School. The course included both lectures and practical exercises, with a bigger emphasise on practice and analytical journalism.

 

The questionnaires distributed among the participants before the beginning of the Winter School showed the most problematic areas for journalists in Central Asia. Therefore, the first part of the Winter School intensively covered the principles and rules of news writing and discussed in detail work of media outlets in Central Asia. The second part of the training was devoted to the analytical approach in journalism, the role of ethic codes and the laws regulating the activities of media and journalists from a comparative perspective. Editors and journalists had a chance to provide different perspectives on the current political situation in their countries and the role of the media during recent and future elections in Central Asia. Moreover, the Winter School gave all participants an opportunity to meet their colleagues from different Central Asian states and share their experience and knowledge, and create a network for future cooperation and exchange of information.