THe PNG Experience Volume 2

Media made in PNG “This was the first practical workshop that I have attended that addressed electronic media usage in PNG, especially in the area of video. I am excited to get back and use what I have learned.”

– Paula Kari, Communications Officer, World Vision What is needed to conduct an effective media workshop in PNG? This was the question posed to a group of twelve attendees at the UNESCO Media workshop hosted by the Centre for Social and Creative Media (CSCM) at the University of Goroka. The purpose of the workshop was to bring media practitioners together to discuss media production in Papua New Guinea and come up with ideas for media training and media capacity building. They came from several organisations including NBC, Kundu TV, Media for Development Initiative, National Film Institute, World Vision, SIL and University of Goroka (UOG).

Workshop leaders Mark Eby and Dr. Verena Thomas (UOG) lead the participants through a series of lectures, activities and discussions.

One activity had the participants produce video interviews.

Teams of four, using state of the art cameras and sound equipment, conducted individual workshop interviews. Each participant produced a short video using professional editing software. Despite the fact that most of the participants had little post-production editing experience, they successfully completed the videos in just two days. The videos were critiqued and all the participants were encouraged by the work they had completed.

A presentation on “Using Social Media” focused on how to create a social media platform. A model was presented by Tim Scott, Chief Communications Officer, SIL-PNG, and participants saw how different social media elements could be integrated to distribute information to a variety of social media users.

One participant said, “I use Facebook but I didn’t realise how I could use different types of social media together to get my information out.”

Leaders and participants alike agreed that the workshop was a success. The coordinators plan to use information from this workshop to create materials to train Papua New Guineans on how to become effective media producers.

“The rural people in Papua New Guinea need access to information, especially information about important social issues. This workshop helped me learn more tools to do my job better.” – Sara Mumugao, Senior Broadcast Editor, NBC.