thomson foundation held a workshops on elections coverage designed to help Egyptian and Tunisian journalists

Rafika Fejjari, Mourad Teyeb and Abdel Aziz Hali: 'If we can apply some of what we learned this week ... we will achieve a lot of things' TV journalist Rafika Fejjari sums up the difference between election coverage in her native Tunisia and the UK in just one word: Trust
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Rafika was watching the Welsh Assembly votes being counted along with other Tunisian journalists, who were in Cardiff to examine the role of the media in ensuring free and fair elections.
She said she found it hard to imagine such a smooth process in her own country: “It’s so different from Tunisia. We don’t trust anyone … the regime , the media, the politicians.”
In an interview with Thomson Foundation Head of Training Tim Rogers, Rafika said the biggest lesson she would be taking home was the importance of planning. In the audio excerpt below she explains that in Tunisia she works in a small newsroom facing the challenge of covering over 60 parties in the country’s forthcoming elections. Click below to hear Rafika’s comments:
The five-day workshop was organised by the Thomson Foundation and led by Elin Wyn, former Head of Election Planning for the BBC in Wales with Mark Webster, a former Economics Editor and international correspondent for ITN.
Mourad Teyeb and Abdel Aziz Hali, a journalist on La Presse, also gave their views on the challenges faced by Tunisian journalists.
Mourad writes for Kapitalis, an online business magazine, and he is also a stringer for the BBC in Tunis. He says that despite the revolution, the media still has a long way to be truly free.
He said: “I’m not an idealist. I’m not expecting Tunisia to become Briain or the United States in one or two years.”
“But I know there are a lot of things we can achieve if we start by changing ourselves. If we apply some of what we have learned during this week – if every single journalist tried to talk abut positive things, we will achieve a lot.”
Abdel Aziz Hali added his thoughts on the challenges and opportunities facing Tunisian journalists:
Meanwhile, a group of 12 Egyptian journalists attended the Scottish parliamentary elections. The workshop was conducted by Charles McGhee, former Editor of The Glasgow Herald and a past president of the UK Society of Editors.
The workshops also included attending press conference by political parties, observing election results, developing elections guidelines, and visiting key media organisations.
The visits were part of a series of training initiatives, led by the EU-funded European Neighbourhood Journalism Network (ENJN) project, designed to help Egyptian and Tunisian journalists play an increasingly-important role in the democratic process. The ENJN project is managed by the Thomson Foundation and targets media in the 16 neighbourhood countries.