The board, management and staff of the Media Academy for Journalism and Communication - MAJaC have concluded a three-day retreat at Sindola, Kanilai in the Foni Kansala District. The retreat is jointly organized by the Gambia Press Union and Gambia Media Support who are MAJaC's key partners. The retreat comes following the successful evaluation of the project “GPU as a trade union and advocate – for members, media and democracy“, where MAJaC implemented part of the project. The retreat is meant to review, revisit and reconstitute the tripartite partnership as well as to seek shared long-term sustainable solutions to issues such as partnership management, communication, programming and project management. At the end of the retreat, the stakeholders came up with a code of conduct to guide the partnership, a strategic vision, and an MoU for the partnership.
Media Academy for Journalism and Communication-MAJaC on the 18th January, 2022 received partners, Gambia Media Support (GAMES), a Danish based civil society organisation interested in media development. The visit was meant to help the partners get first hand information about MAJaC, how it operate and areas they could assist. The delegates were received by the management of MAJaC, the Student's Union executive and Class representatives. GAMES has been MAJaC's major partner and has helped the school in the implementation of many projects.
The Media Academy for Journalism and Communication commenced a five-month migration project geared towards proactive and responsible reporting of migration vis-a-vis covering migration with fairness and perspective. The project is funded by CFI, a public sector operator and a subsidiary of the France Médias Monde group tied to the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. MAJaC staff and students will benefit from numerous capacity building training and support. After the training activities, MAJaC students are expected to produce audiovisual, digital media content, well-researched feature articles and migration related factchects. MAJaC students met Emeline Vin, a representative from CFI as part of her three-day engagement to discuss and establish contact and to assist in the conceptualization and implementation of the project. The meeting is meant to assess and reinforce skills necessary for the project as well as laying out the foundations of the project with the students. The CFI project is implemented in The Gambia, Guinea, Mauritania and Niger.
MAJaC graduates 41 journalists who completed an intensive six-week training on specialized areas. These journalists were drawn from five affiliates of the Gambia Press Union. The affiliates include Women Journalist Association of the Gambia (WoJAG), Network of Agricultural Communicators (NAC), Network of Community Radios-The Gambia (NCRG), Young Journalists Association of The Gambia (YJAG) and the Sports Journalists Association of the Gambia (SJAG). The training was part of the GPU 's project dubbed, ‘GPU as a trade union and advocate for members, media and democracy'. The Vice President of the Gambia Press Union Isatou Keita, urges the graduates to share the knowledge and skills gained to other colleagues who were not opportune to be part of the training. She added that the GPU is committed to providing the necessary support through capacity building trainings for its members. Sang Mendy, the Managing Director of the Media Academy for Journalism and Communication highlighted the need for more ethical journalists, adding that capacity building does not end in the four corners of the classroom. He calls on journalists to acquire the right skills, knowledge and experience to carry out their work effectively. “You have to go out there and do it the way it is supposed to be done. Our profession that we all jealously guard can be respected. It is our responsibility to change that norm”, Mendy added. The training programmes were customized to suit the needs of each affiliate, ranging from court reporting, project proposal writing, sports writing and broadcasting and radio production and programming. Annette Camara, the President of WoJAG highlighted the importance of the training and the impact it would have on their association. The participants from the women Journalists Association of the Gambia-WoJAG were trained on project proposal writing. “We started with more than six proposals, down to three and finally we have two solid proposals courtesy of this training”. Other affiliates spoke highly of the training and assured that the knowledge gained will be put to good use. The Media Academy for Journalism and Communication is renowned for providing technical support and effective capacity building programmes for journalists and communicators in the Gambia.
FIVE MAJaC PRODUCTS SCOOP GPU AWARDS Five MAJaC products scoop the prestigious Gambia Press Union National Journalism Awards held on the 2nd December, 2022. The award is meant to recognize the excellent work of Journalists in the Gambia, for their drive to inform and educate the public. Eleven MAJaC alumni were nominated for this year’s awards, and five emerged winners in various categories. Jarra Cham who won the Migration Reporting award, said her passion for rural development led her to report on series of rural issues. According to her, MAJaC has impacted her career. “I have the vision of impacting change in the rural Gambia, where I came from. MAJaC has helped me actualized that dream and I am proud to have contributed to the development of rural Gambia through my stories’, she said. Miss Cham currently works as an Administrative Assistant at the Media Academy for Journalism and Communication. Bai Ibrahim Cham who won the Environment and Climate change award, said his passion for Climate issues is the drive behind his extensive reports on environment and climate related stories. Cham, who works at the Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS), believes that MAJaC has redefined the way he writes and report on issues. Isatou Ceesay, the winner for the travel and tourism award, said the knowledge and skills she gained at MAJaC has contributed to her success. Mrs. Ceesay advised Journalists and journalism students to go for stories that will positively affect the lives and livelihood of the voiceless in society. Ebrima KB Sonko and Mustapha Ceesay won Sports reporting and human rights awards respectively. The annual GPU awards continues to recognize the work of Journalists in the Gambia, most of whom -for the recent years- are MAJaC products. During the last GPU National Journalism Award -2020/2021-, eight MAJaC alumni were nominated for the award and five won in the various categories. The school has produced students who are holding key positions in the Media and Communication sector in the Gambia.
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The Media Academy for Journalism and Communication (MAJaC), has on Monday October 17 oriented new students for the foundation and Certificate levels. The students were taken through the code of conduct of the school, standards of behavior, modules to be offered and the expectations from the students in the cause of their studies. The Managing Director of the school Mr. Sang Mendy congratulated the new students. He reminded them to take their studies with outmost seriousness. Mr. Mendy assured the students that they will be equipped with the requisite knowledge, skills, experience and the right attitude at MAJaC. "It is important you understand that to succeed, you must take learning as a challenge and a responsibility to succeed, and not for the trainers to force you to learn". He said Isatou Keita, the Vice President of the Gambia Press Union, said the school offers more practical aspect which makes it different from other journalism schools. Keita who is also a trainer at MAJaC highlighted that the practicals aspect is what is going to arm the students to amass the knowledge and skills needed to excel. Ndey Ceesay, an advanced diploma student and the Vice President of the MAJaC students Union, said the Union is there to support the welfare of students. She urged them to reach out to the union whenever the need arises. Mam Sheikh Ngum is newly enrolled in the certificate level. She said she's motivated to study journalism because she wants to explore, experience and write on issues touching the lives of ordinary Gambians. "My interests are sports, politics and entertainment and I believe journalism is the perfect field for me", Ngum added. The school has over the years produced students who are contributing immensely to the development of the media landscape and communication sector in the Gambia. The School is expected to graduate four badges of students who have completed Advanced Diploma levels in journalism and communication, on the 12 November 2022 at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara Conference Center.
