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TEXT ONE Traditional media may be declining in much of the rich world, but in poor countries it is booming. The growth in private media in developing countries has spurred much of the demand, as has new technology. That is stoking journalism training in far-flung places, in many shapes and sizes. They range from full degree programmes to the short-term specialist training offered widely across Asia, Africa and Latin America. Groups offering such courses include the BBC World Service Trust, the Reuters and Thomson Foundations, the Institute for War and Peace Reporting and Internews Network, a media-development charity based in America. These days the donors are particularly interested in niches, such as investigative reporting and science writing. But that approach sometimes flops. The need for basic reporting skills is still central. Trainers stress the need for flexibility. Participants in the courses praise the results, while complaining about the lack of focus and co-ordination among some providers. Shapi Shacinda, the Reuters correspondent in Zambia and chairman of the press club in the capital, Lusaka, says that foreign-backed training in business and economic reporting has helped bring more sceptical coverage. Previously, news stories used to be taken straight from officials statements, he says. But governments are harder to teach. Encouraging students to probe sensitive topics may threaten their lives or livelihoods. An Iraqi journalist trained by and working with the IWPR was shot dead earlier this year. Just this week, Zambias minister of information asserted that state-run media should not criticise the government. In Russia, an organisation founded by Internews has been closed by the authorities, who were apparently suspicious of its American backing. Rich-country governments can be a problem too. Some try to influence the messages that trainers deliver, for example by insisting that their diplomats talk to classes on a regular basis. The big training groups insist that they control their own content. Blurring the boundaries can be dangerous both for journalists and the programmes that support them, he notes. But others may be less choosy. | 
