By Abdullahi Jamaa
Journalists, digital content creators and media practitioners in Wajir County have completed a training programme on governance, ethical reporting and professional journalism practices aimed at strengthening accurate, balanced and accountable reporting.
The training, organised by the Wajir Peace and Development Agency (WPDA) through its ForumCiv-supported SASA programme, focused on improving participants’ understanding of ethical journalism, fact-checking, constructive reporting and election coverage.
Organisers said the programme sought to equip media practitioners with practical skills to uphold professional standards, counter misinformation and produce reporting that promotes transparency, accountability and informed public participation.
Participants discussed the principles of ethical journalism, including accuracy, fairness, balance and verification.
The programme also introduced participants to constructive journalism, encouraging reporters to cover public challenges while highlighting practical solutions, community initiatives and examples of positive change.
Abdinoor Omar Ali of the Wajir Peace and Development Agency said the timing of the training was significant given the country’s political climate.
“Today, under SASA programme supported by Forum CIV, we were able to train media houses, digital content creators, and media influencers on ethical reporting, sharing accuracy of information and educating the masses,” he said.
Ali added that the training was intended to encourage responsible reporting during the election period.
“I think the training came at the right time when we are heading to general election and political mood in our country is very high.”
He said the initiative would help participants “be sober in terms of reporting” while educating the public responsibly and thanked ForumCiv, county government officials and programme partners for supporting the initiative.
A participant, journalist Habibakiin Abdinur, said the sessions strengthened her understanding of ethical journalism and governance reporting.
“Today we have been trained on governance and also we have been trained on ethical reporting during the campaign,” she said, adding that participants also received training on responsible journalism.
The training comes as Kenya prepares for its next general election, a period during which concerns over misinformation, hate speech and politically charged reporting often increase.
