Mekong Institute, supported by the New Zealand Aid Programme, is going to organize Communicating Food Safety: Regional Media Training Program on Food Safety Reporting in CLMV on August 6–10 at Mekong Institute in Khon Kaen, Thailand. Full scholarships will be provided to about 20 media/communication professionals of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Vietnam.

At present, mass media coverage on food safety issues in the region remains to be limited. As such, there is a need for extensive science-based coverage on local and transboundary issues on food safety. The main challenge among communication practitioners is how to make food safety-related issues more accessible to the public.

This five-day training program will allow participants to have a better understanding of regional and local food safety issues and current safe food promotion initiatives in their respective countries. The workshop seeks to serve as a venue for these journalists to discuss the best strategies to tackle these issues and make food safety-related stories more relatable and appealing to the general public. Through the presentations and discussions, the workshop hopes to provide the journalists new perspectives and ideas in handling food safety stories. By the end of the workshop, the participants are expected to share their ideas for possible stories that can be published or produced through their respective platforms.

Applications are now open to interested applicants. Please download the application form and send your full information to [email protected].

Deadline of application is July 15, 2018.

For more information about the program, please contact Mr. Dwight Jason Ronan, Program Coordinator ([email protected] or +66 4320 2441 ext. 3104).

WHO CAN APPLY?

Media practitioners working on any medium–including print, radio, television, and online–from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Vietnam are encouraged to apply. Priority will be given to editors and reporters assigned to cover issues related to science and technology, agriculture, public health, or industry and trade.

Communication officers from related national agencies (i.e., ministries of health, agriculture, trade, or commerce), international organizations, and non-government organizations working on food safety-related issues in the region are also welcome to apply.

Communication professionals working in non-English media can apply but must indicate their proficiency and willingness to write stories in English, which can later be translated in their local language.

At least five participants from each country will be invited. Applicants will be required to submit a story pitch covering a local food safety issue in their own country. After the workshop, the participants are expected to publish or produce food safety-related stories through their respective media platforms.