By Foday Moriba Conteh
Some 30 Media Practitioners, having received valuable media training and experiences in China, jet back into Freetown on Tuesday 17th September 2019.
On 26 August 2019 thirty Sierra Leoneans, comprising practicing journalists and Press Officers in Ministries, Departments and Agencies departed for the People’s Republic of China to participate in the three weeks long educative seminar.
The engagement was organized by the Research and Training Institute (RTI) of the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) and sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce both in China.
Officially opening the Seminar, the Deputy Director General of International Cooperation Department of NRTA, Mr. Cheng Heng, said the institution is a Ministerial level Central Government Agency under the State Council of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). He intimated that the first newspaper in China was established in 1822 and was called Abelha Da China or Macao China.
Giving a brief chronological run down of the development in the media in China, he said the first radio station was opened in 1923 in Chengai and the first Government radio service was established in Najing in 1928. In 1940, Mr. Chengheng went on; the Xinhua Radio Station was opened.
“In 1958 the Deputy the Beijing Television Station started broadcasting,” he told the participants.
Throughout the seminar the participants benefitted from incisive lectures by Chinese media professionals on several topics including the New Media in China.
Apart from the lectures that were delivered the team of journalists from Sierra Leone also visited many key media institutions both in Beijing and Guangzhou.
Guangzhou is a huge industrial city with booming trade in textiles as well as in electronic and many more. Also, the team visited historical and touristic sites such as the Great Wall near Mongolia and the Forbidden City in Beijing amongst others.
Alongside their Chinese hosts, they also visited the Sierra Leone Embassy in China and met with the Ambassador, His Excellency Chief Ernest Ndomayeina and staff including the Deputy Ambassador His Excellency Saffa Wuya.
The entire Seminar climaxed on Monday September 16th 2019 with a formal farewell gathering during which several high profiled personalities including Ambassador Ndomayeina were present.
Talking to some of the beneficiaries all agreed that they have acquired useful media professional knowledge during the three days seminar which they believe will be very useful in furthering their day to day work.
