Bolivia: Innovative dual journalism training program | Latin America | DW | 26.04.2012
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Latin America

Bolivia: Innovative dual journalism training program

There are new developments in the Bolivian media landscape: DW Akademie is creating the country's first structured journalism program in cooperation with Bolivian private and state media.

DW Akademie is developing a dual journalism training program in Bolivia together with the journalism foundation, Fundación para el Periodismo and the German development organization, GIZ. The program is similar to a traineeship and could serve as a model: to date the country has no structured journalism program. As part of this long-term project DW Akademie will advise the foundation in creating a curriculum with the Bolivian media, securing funding and organizing cooperation with private and state media.

This three-year, two-pronged project also aims for communication science faculties to take a more hands-on, practical approach. University lecturers will therefore take part in an advanced training program being developed together with ABOCCS (Asociación Boliviana de Carreras de Comunicación Social), the Bolivian association for communication science faculties.

Long-term journalism training

The new project has a budget of 1.5 million Euros and was approved by the German federal government during negotiations with its Bolivian counterparts. "This agreement was reached at the highest level and shows that our long-term strategies in Latin America are on the right track," says DW Akademie Director, Gerda Meuer. "We'll be implementing the project together with the GIZ, and the Bolivian Ministry of Communications will be our political partner on location."

Another first is that the steering committee will include state as well as civil society organizations and they’ll work together on content-related questions. "Given Bolivia's polarized media landscape, this approach will create room at the political level for an open dialogue on media issues," says Petra Berner, head of DW Akademie's Latin America division.

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