Media: A five-day training on digital marketing and marketing skills, host-caller relationship and counselling and on business journalism was held in Thimphu.
Journalists from broadcast and private newspapers, marketing officers and radio jockeys from private and community radio stations attended the training programme.
Except for digital marketing and marketing skills, local professionals mentored the other two programmes.
Department of Information and Media (DoIM)’s chief information and media officer, Tshering Yangden, said the training aims to equip the young reporters with the skills necessary for the job.
“This, we envisage, will only go on to improve the quality of journalism in Bhutan,” she said.
She said the training was in line with DoIM’s mandate to promote the media sector through coordination and facilitation of programmes such as training, seminars, and workshops. The training programmes have been outsourced through a competitive bidding procedure.
Organised by the DoIM with the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) in collaboration with the Bhutan Media and Communications Institute (BMCI), the training programmes concluded yesterday.
Tshering Yangden said the training is part of DoIM’s annual planned activities.
MoIC minister DN Dhungyel awarded the participants with certificates during the closing ceremony.
Lyonpo encouraged the participants to implement whatever they learnt during the training in their work. “We are going to continue supporting the media fraternity in whatever way or trainings we can conduct. We encourage more media personnel to participate in such trainings.”
He also said that for the media to move forward, media houses must be digitised. “Most media houses lack digital platforms today and for it to improve such trainings are necessary.”
DoIM’s media relations and postal communications division, in consultation with the Journalist Association of Bhutan (JAB) planned the training. The training sessions were selected after receiving a list of recommendations from JAB.
Thinley Zangmo