Caption: Group photo with Karnali Province training participants
Nepal Investigative Multimedia Journalism Network (NIMJN), conducted the fourth of its six trainings on ‘Reporting on Human Trafficking and Human Rights using Multimedia Tools’ for journalists in Surkhet, Nepal, with support from Australian Aid. A total of 20 journalists from all over the Karnali Province gathered in Surkhet for the two-and-a-half-day training from June 10 to June 12, 2024.
The two-and-a-half-day residential training consisted of sessions ranging in topics from introduction to investigative reporting and ethics of journalists to anti-trafficking laws, stories of survivors, use of multimedia tools, and safety of journalists. Gita Koirala, a human rights advocate based in Surkhet, and Pabitra Shahi, executive director at Aawaj, were invited as local guest speakers, to help the participants learn about the status of human trafficking, human rights, and anti-trafficking laws in Karnali Province through the local actors directly involved in the work. Other trainers included Dinesh Regmi, a senior NIMJN fellow and a journalist reporting on migration and human trafficking issues, Shuphal Kafle, a seasoned journalist and NIMJN’s copy editor, and Rajneesh Bhandari, NIMJN’s chief editor.
Caption: Session on generating story idea and hypothesis
The training also included a lot of interactive group work where the participants devised their investigative story ideas, formed hypotheses on them, and discussed how they could be realistically pursued. They also each made a one-minute video to utilize the mobile journalism and multimedia storytelling skills that they had learned during the training. The videos they produced and edited were presented on the final day of the training.
Caption: Participant during Multimedia Storytelling session
Overall, the participants comprised 10 female and 10 male journalists from various media outlets, representing various districts of Karnali. After the training completion, they can apply for the NIMJN Human Trafficking Reporting Fellowship, under which 2 journalists from Karnali Province will have the opportunity to produce an investigative multimedia story on human trafficking and human rights under the mentorship and editorial support of NIMJN.
Here are some excerpts from participants regarding their experience in the training (Translated to English from Nepali):
‘This training has raised a very important topic and that's why we all participants have attended with so much curiosity and immense interest. Every aspect of this training is really meaningful for journalists like us. I learned about the formulation of ‘Hypothesis’ through this training and it was new to me. If we all used this process practically then I think we would be able to cover in-depth stories in the coming days. ’’- Raju Lamichhane, Journalist, Rukum West
‘This is my first time attending a residential training and I am really grateful to the NIMJN for organizing it. ‘Human trafficking’ and ‘Human smuggling’ were familiar words for me but I didn't know the exact difference between these two. After attending this training I got to know the differences between these terms and I also understood how sensitive these topics are. Besides this, I got to know about story pitching, developing hypotheses, and generating story ideas. Each topic covered by this training was new and useful to me. I look forward to slightly advanced and meaningful workshops from NIMJN in the coming days as well.’- Priyanka Hamal, Journalist, Dolpa
