During the month of May, Internews, with support from the Department of Population and technical assistance from UNFPA, is training journalists from public and private TV and radio stations, including those stations broadcasting in in ethnic languages, such as Kayin and Shan. The training is building their capacity to develop informative programmes and content using census data and materials.
Ye Thiha Naing, a journalist at the Up to Date news channel of Skynet, said: “This training is helping me to develop news articles on how the census data can be used by the government to support people living with disabilities. I am also interested in broadcasting news articles on the mobile phone application that is being developed, which will make the census data accessible, particularly for young people.”
During the training, journalists have the opportunity to interview the British Chamber of Commerce on how they will use the census data. Journalists are also learning more about how the census data will be used from civil society organisations that have been using the census toolkit in communities across Myanmar to build local ownership and raise awareness about the potential benefits of the census data.
Twenty one journalists will attend the training in total including 16 participants from MRTV, who broadcast in 12 ethnic languages, and journalists from Skynet, Mandalay and Myitmanka News Agency.
