Civic Journalism Workshop in Karagandy

The Friedrich Ebert Foundation organized a Civic Journalism Workshop in the city of Karagandy – one of Kazakhstan’s largest industrial cities. The workshop lasted four days between July 19-22, with a mix of skills training and fieldwork. The participants developed their own ideas concerning a wide range of topics and adjusted their angles and pitches during the workshop. Most of the topics were focused on the local realities of the Karagandy region.

Paolo Sorbello, a media consultant and the workshop’s coordinator, gave a lecture on how to turn an idea into a pitch: what questions to answer, how to address an international publication, and common mistakes in pitching and writing.

Other trainers from various media outlets were invited to share their experiences, give lectures, and help participants with their articles. Vyacheslav Abramov, editor at Vlast.kz gave a lecture on “What the editor wants?” explaining how to choose the angle of the story, and the differences in writing on local and national/international media and DOs and DON’Ts for young journalists.

In addition, trainers working at BES.Media and Adamdar.CA showed the tools and tricks for crafting news on Telegram channels or storytelling with words, sound & images.

On the third day of the workshop, participants conducted their fieldwork in Karagandy, interviewing different stakeholders, residents, and members of the civil society related to their topic. They shared the results of their enquiries and some more concrete draft ideas for their works on the final day.

We thank all our participants and trainers for their active participation and inspirational work!

Check out the material of one of the participants of the workshop Beiimbet Moldagali, who wrote and published his article about Karagandy city and issues with infrastructure and communications in the city.