By Anneline van Wyk
KEETMANSHOOP
“Communities must participate in the decision-making processes and activities of their media.They must not only identify themselves with the aims and objectives and with issues addressed by these media, but they must own them and thereby participate in their management and operations.
Participation is empowerment. It’s only through participation that the communities will be empowered. Thus, participation empowers citizens.”
These were the words of Karas Governor Dawid Boois at the opening of a training workshop on the Promotion of Local Content for Community Media, in Keetmanshoop on Monday, March 26.
The training, organized by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in colloboration with UNESCO, aims to train community media practitioners in various media production and writing skills. These include theoretical, ethical and practical reporting and writing skills. Moreover, the workshop seeks to assist Insight Karas, a newly-established, youth-driven community newspaper, to produce their first edition.
“As far as I know, this is the first workshop of its kind to be held in the Karas Region. I must therefore commend these institutions for availing financial resources and expertise in hosting this workshop, Boois said.
More than 30 young people from all over the Karas Region attended the workshop.
Boois further informed members of Insight Karas that it is their task to take ownership of this newspaper on behalf of their readership, the youth and the broader communities of the region.
According to Boois, Insight Karas, as community media practitioners, has a developmental role to perform in their communities and the region.
“You have to facilitate participation of the youth in developmental projects and programmes taking place at regional and local levels, by constantly informing and educating them about the benefits of their participation in these projects and programmes” said Boois, who reiterated that Insight Karas must facilitate dialogue between and among the youth in the Karas Region, and between that region and others, in order to find common solutions to common problems among the youth.