OSCE Skopje Mission trains radio producers in public broadcaster

SKOPJE, 25 November 2005 - Radio journalists and presenters from six different language departments in the public broadcaster today successfully completed a two-week production management training course, sponsored by the OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje.

"Until now, the different language departments have largely worked in isolation and the content creation, and technical production have been separated," said Sally Broughton, Head of the OSCE Mission's Media Development Unit.

"In light of the ongoing transformation of the broadcaster, we decided to invest in training this group of professionals in order to increase efficiency in terms of the use of resources and encourage co-operation among the different departments."

During the course, lead by David Sloly of Point Blank Studios in London, the 14 participants learned programme and resource planning, brainstorming, and the technical aspects of digital production, as well as how to brand and promote their programmes.

They also produced 9 promotional jingles for their programmes, some of which are already on air, and a pilot episode for a half hour series on internet use.

"They all broadcast on two frequencies, so they need to start advertising each other's programme's while they are on air and promoting a common brand for the two stations," said David Sloly.

"It is good to see that they are now working together and sharing ideas."

Amina Porovic, of the Bosnian language department, said that upon completing the course the participants are able to finish seventy per cent of the production on their own before they go into the studio, saving a great deal the technician's time and freeing up the consistently overbooked studios.

"Teamwork has really been created within the group; we all give ideas and make decisions together, even though we are from different departments," she added.