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ALJA to hold Media Workshop for Liberian Journalists in US

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Minneapolis, Minnesota-The Association of Liberian Journalists in the Americas (ALJA) in collaboration with the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota will this Friday (October 4, 2019) conduct a one-day media workshop for Liberian journalists in the United States of America (USA).

The media workshop forms part of activities marking the Association’s 5th post crisis Annual National Convention scheduled to be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, beginning Thursday, October 3rd through Sunday, October 6th. It will be held in the conference room of the Liberian Consulate in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota beginning 9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. Midwestern Time.

The training is the first of ALJA’s foremost media development initiatives to be hosted by the Association’s National Leadership since the resuscitation of the Organization in the year 2014 after 10 years of dormancy. In 2004, ALJA crumbled due to internal rift amongst its members, an ALJA press release issued on Sunday says.

It quotes the Association’s National Vice President and Chairman of the 2019 Annual National Convention Committee, Joe Mason, as saying that the workshop would cover a wide range of media topics such as, Press Freedom and Social Responsibility, Electronic News Gathering and Presentation, the Media and Government Relationship, among others.

According to Vice President Mason, the training would afford attendees of the National Conference, especially international journalists and ALJA members the opportunity to acquire additional knowledge about the current trend and challenges in the media.

Mr. Mason named the Director of the Silha Center for the study of Media Ethics and Law at the University of Minnesota, Professor Jane Kirtley, and Senior Fellow in Visual communication and Photo Journalism Professor, Regina McCombs, as some of the workshop’s lecturers. 

Professor Kirtley is a lawyer and former journalist. She previously served as Executive Director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, while Professor Mccombs worked for a number of years as Senior Editor for Visual News at Minnesota Public Radio.

The ALJA National Vice President also, cited Mr. Issa Mansaray of the Africa Paper, a local online publication in the Twin Cities, as one of the workshop’s lecturers. Meanwhile, Mr. Mason says ALJA would also, partner with the Institute on Community Integration, a federally designated University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities for a discussion on “using person first language and reporting on people with Disabilities”.

He said the ICI’s publications coordinator, Vicki Garlord and program specialist, Macdonald Metzger will facilitate the discussions. The one-day media training will be preceded by a guided tour of the Hubbard School of journalism and Mass Communication located on the campus of the University of Minnesota on Thursday, October 3rd by ALJA members and international Liberian journalists attending the 2019 Convention.

In a related development, Vice President Mason says the Mayor of Brooklyn Center, Mike Elliott, and other city officials will on Friday, October 4th formally host conferees attending this year’s convention at the Brooklyn Center City Hall. He said the formal ‘meet and greet’ ceremony with the city officials will include other prominent organizations and individuals in the City. Mayor Elliott is a native of Liberia. He is the first African to be elected major of Brooklyn Center.

ALJA is a conglomeration of current and retired Liberian journalists residing in the Americas. The organization has a membership of over 100 persons. It is a 501c (3) non-profit entity. ALJA was founded in 1998 and is committed to advancing press freedom through media capacity building and the fostering of good governance in Liberia through media advocacy. ALJA is 21

years old.

In 2014, a group of US based Liberian journalists including Vice President Mason and ALJA’s National President, Moses D. Sandy, held series of teleconferences and assembled in the State of Delaware for ALJA’s reactivation. Since then ALJA remains a unified and vibrant organization with two functioning chapters in the Midwest and East coast regions of the US.

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