The Media Academy for Journalism and Communication today held an orientation for its students who have completed the diploma programme. The purpose of the internship is to provide opportunity for students to experience real work life and support them in attaining their career goals. The students are to start a three-month internship training at various media institutions, companies, and organizations to learn and put into practice the knowledge and skills acquired from the school. Sang Mendy, the managing director of the school took the students through MAJaC's internship policy and guidelines during their internship.
The Media Academy for Journalism and Communication presented a certificate of appreciation to its partner Gambia Media Support(GAMES) in recognition of their immense support towards the growth of the institution. Sang Mendy, managing director of the academy presented the certificate on behalf of the board, management, staff and students of MAJaC. Lars Møller, board chair of GAMES expressed delight for receiving the award. "I am immensely proud to work with you. I have worked with colleagues in Denmark who want to make a difference. They travel here without pay, just because they want to use their profession to some greatest good. MAJaC has a similar ambition to make a difference".
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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.
