Time for Somali Voices to be heard in media

MEMBERS of SASCA attended a series of workshops last month to launch a new scheme called Somali Voices.

Somali Voices mentors and trains members of the Somali community in media skills to raise the profile of the community and counter any negative publicity.

Somali Voices has already been established in London and is now being rolled out to Manchester and Bristol.

Training sessions were held at Manchester Metropolitan University with professionals in the media industry offering advice and training on how to write press releases, how to pitch stories to editors and journalists, and how to get the most out of media interviews

Mohammed Wadi and Ahmed Mohamud from SASCA both took part in the workshops and found them to be very useful.

Mohammed said: “It was a very useful workshop. We got to learn some very valuable media skills, such as how to conduct a TV interview and how to write a press release. The professionals who ran the courses were very friendly and knowledgeable and made us feel very welcome.

“It’s great that a scheme like this is being launched in Manchester, especially when you think of some of the negative publicity that has surrounded the Somali community in Manchester recently.”

The project is run by The Media Trust and the Open Society Foundation. Details can be found here: www. mediatrust.org/our-projects/community-media/somali-voices

TRAINING session: the first Somali Voices workshop was held at MMU