OSCE Mission organizes training course on Converged Newsroom for Montenegro's Public Service Broadcaster

A four-day in-house training course, organized by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro on converged newsroom for the Public Service Broadcaster (RTCG), concluded on 18 November 2019 in Podgorica.

The course supported RTCG in establishing co-operation and synergy amongst different journalistic departments. It provided journalists with training on how to record various types of footage and edit it by using a variety of available tools and apps. RTCG journalists also learned how to converge journalistic content and create infographics and storylines.

The training was conducted by Lamija Alečković, Media Consultant and partner in an ICT company for development of new media, Tena Perišin, journalist and professor of Journalism Studies at the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Zagreb and Dejan Oblak, assistant at the Faculty of Political Science in Zagreb and video and mobile journalist.

Daniel Blank, OSCE Media Programme Manager, said that journalists often think that converged newsrooms are a necessity because of the availability of new technical devices, or savings gained in production. “However, it is all about getting the story. In the end, it is all about audiences, their access to information, their engagement and their improved knowledge,” said Blank.

The experts agreed that public service broadcasters should serve as an example of democratic functioning of the public media. They should also be a leader in technological changes with the view to strengthen the quality of programming at the public service.

In August this year, the Mission organized a ten-day in-house training course on the topic for six media outlets. The Mission will continue with activities aimed at improving journalists’ reporting skills.