Kinshasa, March 9th, 2023 (CPA). – The importance of sources was reminded to the journalists of the Congolese News Agency (CPA), at the closing on Wednesday in Kinshasa, of the training focused on agency writing, organized by this public media of the Democratic Republic of Congo, CPA noted.
« The good deal finally, it is us the assistance who made it (this training). We, who were reminded of the fundamentals in the collection and processing of information, with particular emphasis on the importance of sources and quotations in agency writing, on the speed and exploitation of information in real time and on the importance of an address book, » said in his closing speech of this ten-day seminar, the general director of CPA, Bienvenu-Marie Bakumanya.
« Such an enriching training should encourage us to share our knowledge with others; of course, after we have applied the lessons we have learned, » he continued, addressing the audience composed of the Agency’s executives, editors-in-chief, editorial secretaries and permanent staff of the desks as well as some department heads.
For his part, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of CPA, Jean-Pierre Kezamudru insisted on the practical application of all the notions learned, before thanking the French trainer for having accepted to share his knowledge with the Congolese Agency’s staff.
« We must capitalise on the inputs of this training, for the benefit of CPA, and the outputs should effectively be the improvement of our publications and our services, » he stressed.
Combining business with pleasure, the PCA, on behalf of CPA, presented Jean-Pierre Campagne with a bronze work of art representing a hand holding a pen.
« Instead of a computer and its keyboard, you did well to choose a hand writing, which symbolises our profession, » replied the former AFP journalist.
The general director also said that he expected his journalists to assimilate this subject taught by Jean-Pierre Campagne, a retired journalist from “Agence France Presse” (AFP), « in order to improve quantitatively and above all qualitatively, the information content produced by his news agency.
Participants’ commitment
The participants in this training course, in their speech read by the secretary of the gender desk, Jolie Tshidibi, committed themselves to putting into practice what they had learnt in order to restore CPA’s reputation to international standards.
« These were pleasant, useful and decisive moments for our way of working in the media world, where respecting standards will enable us to raise the Congolese News Agency to the level where it is expected: a provider of information delivered in real time, » she said.
According to Jolie Tshidibi, at the end of this training, the agents retained in particular the identification of sources, the agency’s writing that meets the standards as well as the principle according to which the reliability of the information and the speed make the efficiency.
For continuous training at the desk level
Nestor Cimanga, CPA’s central editorial director, told a reporter that this training should be extended to the desks, while calling on editors, secretaries and staff to improve production.
« This training must be done in a continuous way, on the ground and in the desks. I hope that the beneficiaries of this training will now do a good job and continue to train other journalists who were not involved in this seminar, » said Nestor Cimanga.
According to him, the editorial staff will now work at the level expected of them: « to produce in real time and according to the standards« .
The ceremony, organised in the reading room of the Agency’s documentation department, ended with the solemn presentation of certificates of participation to the participants by the PCA, starting with the General Director, Bienvenu Bakumanya and the Deputy General Director, Jean-Medard Liwoso. CPA/
