The head of the centre, Werner Eggert, granted audience to Africanews.com to divulge the plans of the academy that hopes to build a better press freedom environment through professionally trained journalists.

Briefly tell us about Intajour

Intajour was founded by the media company Bertelsmann AG in order to mark the 175th anniversary of the company. The aim is to strengthen press freedom worldwide by offering professional training to journalists. Bertelsmann looks at it as a gift to the global public.

Is Intajour not duplicating what other international training institutions are doing?

There quite a number of institutions offering further training to journalists, that is correct. But still the demand for such trainings is much higher than that what is offered. And Intajour is doing something very unique in the sense that we offer a combination of attendance and e-Learning. Our fellows learn most of the time in their own working and living environment. This will definitely improve the efficiency of the training.

What criteria will you use to select would-be participants?

We look for high potential journalists who value the principles of free and independent journalism. And we look for young talents but not for beginners. Applicants should have spent a few years in the profession.

Who can apply in terms of geographical location?

Intajour offers training to journalists from countries where more and better training can strengthen the independence and quality of the media, and where there is a lack of this kind of training. This includes a lot of countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America.

How has response being like in terms of application? And possibly can you tell us some of the countries that have responded so far?

We are overwhelmed by the number of applications so far, and they reach us from all over the world. And we are overwhelmed by the high quality of the applications. Obviously, we offer what people have been waiting for.

Why did you choose the topic ‘Journalism in the Digital World’ as your course?

The topic reflects the big challenge for journalism: how to make use of the many opportunities the digitization and the internet offer to journalism. The digitization can be used to make journalism an ever stronger force in the struggle for democracy.

So for starters, what will be the course module?

We will concentrate on advanced research and publications techniques on the web, and we will concentrate on media ethics. There will be sessions on security, on entrepreneurial journalism and on regulatory policies.

We understand participants for your course will go through both face-to-face and online training. How effective will that be?

This concept will combine the advantages of both concepts: Our fellows will benefit from the international and intense learning atmosphere while they attend the face-to-face-training sessions, and they will benefit from the familiar environment at home, when they go through the e-learning phases.


Intajour - helping train professional journalists globally

What kind of journalists do you hope to breed in the long term especially in emerging democracies?

To my mind, it depends on the individual participant, what he or she makes out of the course. We will probably see a wide variety when it comes to this.

How do you gauge the impact of your training on journalists?

Well trained journalists will be better journalists. And good journalists are one of the prerequisites of free and responsible journalism. It is simple like that.

What plans there are to introduce other courses besides the ‘Journalism in the digital world’?

Right now we concentrate on the course “Journalism in the digital world”. Intajour will definitely grow and expand its activities, but it is too early at this point in time to speak about specific plans.

Eggert is an experience journalist and lecturer. He has worked as an editor and instructor at the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation. He was very instrumental with concept and organization of courses on media ethics and online journalism at the Berlin-based International Institute for Journalism. Before taking up his new position, Werner, served as the chief editor and manager of Hamburg-based public and education network “Tide”.