We are pleased to announce the names and projects of the ten professionals who have received this year’s Public Media Alliance travel bursaries
Our programme enables staff from broadcast networks and partner NGOs to go on exchange, an event or training in another country for up to two weeks – sharing knowledge between national broadcasters across the world, and bringing back experience and fresh ideas to their organisation.
This year’s intake includes five women and five men from a wide range of backgrounds including producers, reporters, music editors, managers and researchers.
Our thanks to the Grace Wyndham Goldie Trust Fund for supporting our 2016 bursaries.
Our 2016 bursars are:
Mr. Richard Purcell
General Manager at Gem Radio Five, Trinidad to attend Radiodays Europe in Paris
Richard hopes to broaden his knowledge of the business of Radio, with specific emphasis on sales, marketing and promotion. Richard said of his bursary:
“It is indeed an honour to be awarded a Public Media Alliance & Grace Wyndham Goldie Award 2016 for travel to the Radiodays Europe 2016. This is one of the premiere events in the world that ensures the continued growth and development of media practitioners, in this particular case, Radio executives.
This travel Bursary will enable me to attend Radiodays Europe at a time when Radio stations in the Caribbean are facing challenging months ahead. It is expected that the innovative ideas and practical knowledge which will be shared at the conference sessions will certainly assist in realizing my company’s goals to increase market share and keep ahead of the competition, even in these challenging times.”
He also hopes to get ideas at the conference on how to make public service broadcasting more interesting and entertaining for listeners. This is key for the survival of two of his stations – the CSS BVI and WVENT St. Lucia, where the focus is on educating and informing the public.
Mr. Marcus Tyley
Controller of Programming and Content at Manx Radio, Isle of Man to visit Radio Montserrat
Marc hopes to share his knowledge and experience with Radio Monserrat – a station very similar to his on the Isle of Man. Upon receiving his bursary he said:
“I am absolutely thrilled to be heading off to Montserrat this summer and so grateful to the Public Media Alliance and the Grace Wyndham Goldie trust for making this possible.
Living and working in the Isle of Man as I do, it is vital to get many different perspectives on how radio stations in other relatively small jurisdictions go about their programming and news coverage. I am also really interested to see how Radio Montserrat balances its commercial activities with being the public service broadcaster for the island, something we also have to keep in mind on a daily basis.
On the training side, I have been asked by the station manager of Radio Montserrat to look at how they might increase their revenue from programming without adding to the commercial inventory.”
Marcus will also produce a feature length documentary on the visit, comparing and contrasting a wide range of aspects of life in Montserrat with life in the Isle of Man.
Mr. Colvin Harry
Programme Manager at the National Broadcasting Corporation of St Vincent and the Grenadines to visit RJR and JET-TV, Jamaica
As a PSB, NBC radio tries to bring a diverse content to listeners. They have recently established a multi-media unit to target new media. Colvin proposes to travel to Jamaica as it is recognised as one of the more developed territories in new media. Colvin said of his award:
“I am elated to have such an opportunity to expand my knowledge and gain valuable information which will benefit my organisation. I intend to visit Jamaica where I will look at new media content development and delivery at RJR and JET-TV and how they are able to adapt to the ever changing media landscape. Jamaica being one of the more developed islands makes greater use of new media applications, for this reason I have chosen it.
When I return I intend to hold information sharing sessions with members of the internal new media unit in my organisation to improve the content delivered and the effectiveness of it.”
Ms. Nomazulu Mda
Head of Research at SABC, South Africa to visit the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation
Nomazula is working on a toolkit for journalists on how to collate data form elections. The toolkit will set out a documented process and step-by-step integration of in house research in Election coverage.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I opened the letter from PMA, informing me of the success of my application. While I cannot wait for my travel experience, my colleagues cannot wait for me to return to share my experiences.
I will be traveling to Accra, Ghana to visit the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation. The purpose of my travel is to observe how the GBC prepared for elections coverage; and conduct a comparative analysis with our approach at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). South Africa will hold its 5th Local Government Elections in August 2016; and our elections coverage preparations are at an advanced stage. That said, I believe we can still draw valuable lessons from other broadcasters around the continent; and with Ghana preparing for its General Elections in November 2016, the GBC offers me the most appropriate case study. I’m very grateful to the PMA, and the Grace Wyndham Goldie Trust for granting me this opportunity.”
Her objective is to spend a week in GBC’s newsroom to observe news gathering and the news production value chain. She will also observe in the field and also different genres of production to see how these will cover elections.
Ms. Sharmin Nigar
Art Director at Bangladesh Television to visit Media Corp Singapore
Sharmin’s objective is to learn more about branding and graphics within broadcasting organisations, to understand the process from commissioning through to delivery, and how to develop multi-culturalism through telecasting different programs. Upon receiving her bursary Sharmin said:
“Thanks for selecting me as a Travel Bursar 2016. I am very much excited to receive this letter. It’s really a great opportunity for me to interact with Media Corp, Singapore. This bursary will open the opportunity before me to gain access in the largest media broadcaster and provider in Singapore
By visiting Media Corp broadcast station I can learn about working practices and methods, and report to BTV on how changes could be incorporated into our own systems.”
Mr. Balendran Kandeban
The Capital Maharaja in Sri Lanka to attend Radiodays Europe, Paris.
Balendran will be using this travel bursary to participate in Radiodays Europe and the exclusive Creative Leadership Programme, which conducted by the Berlin School of Creative Leadership. When asked about his bursary, Balendran said:
“This is going to be a great oportunity for me to know what’s new on radio, to connect and discuss with radio leaders across the world as how to create Radio’s future!
This will help me to learn better, different ways to do radio to attract more listeners and advertisers in a changing radio industry.”
Experiences, knowledge and passion for how to make great radio – on air and on digital platforms – will be shared with delegates around the world whilst learning through speakers will definitely help Balendran to create opportunities and challenge circumstances back home in Sri Lanka with his colleagues and Capital Maharaja.
Ms. Liisa McMillan
Music Content Editor at Radio New Zealand to travel to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Sydney
Liisa is responsible for developing new ways to produce RNZ Music content, and ways for it to reach new audiences. She will travel to Sydney, Australia to meet, talk with and observe how ABC staff, with similar roles, go about their work. RNZ has recently brought together its various music assets under the umbrella ‘RNZ Music’ and is refocusing away from radio-only towards audience-focused multimedia, multi-platform content delivery.
Liisa said about her bursary:
“Thanks so much for the Public Media Alliance Travel Bursary and Grace Wyndham Goldie Trust – this is a great opportunity and I feel very grateful.
RNZ has recently brought together its various music functions to form a new RNZ Music Division. I have been appointed to one of the three positions in charge of developing this new music hub which includes the classical network RNZ Concert, all music content on RNZ National, and a new online, multi-media music output. It’s a very exciting and important development for Radio New Zealand and there is much at stake in terms of its success.
RNZ is New Zealand’s only public broadcaster and as such we are unique in what we can develop and achieve, but limited in who we can learn from within New Zealand. The opportunity to share and compare with Australian media counterparts will be of immense value.”
Liisa will learn how ABC makes things happen behind the scenes, find out what is transferable to RNZ’s situation, and to explore how they might work with ABC better – e.g. exchanging staff for professional development, exchanging programming content/ideas, working together on big music events/tours etc.
Ms. Otufelenite Sharon ‘Elone
Producer at Tonga Broadcasting Commission to visit Sun Pix in New Zealand
Sharon would like to improve her production skills in all areas. She will visit Sun Pix and spend 10 days gaining experience in many fields but especially in editing, interviewing and camera work. She would also like to observe how she can make more targeted content on issues that effect Tongans.
“I will always remember this morning (Wednesday 2nd March) as one happy morning and a great start for my day, receiving confirmation that I have been chosen as the recipient of the Public Media Alliance Travel Bursary Award 2016
I am grateful for the opportunity and I look forward to a fruitful outcome under the Sun Pix team, as Tagata Pasifika is quite popular here in Tonga, with their unique island style presentation of Pacific related issues.”
Ms. Nakasia Logan
Reporter at NCN, Guyana to travel to Kingston, Jamaica.
Nakasia will be attending our Investigative Journalism in a Digital Age workshop in Jamaica in March, to gain vital training and contacts.
I was very pleased to hear that I had received a PMA travel bursary to attend the workshop on Investigative Journalism in a digital age in Kingston, Jamaica. As a reporter I feel such workshops are very important to improve our skills and also apply them in our work. By attending this workshop I hope to gain skills in data reporting and how to use this effective in my everyday work as a crime reporter. I also feel by attending his workshop I will be able to make valuable contact with other broadcasters in the Caribbean and together we can share and improve our investigative journalism skills. It is a great opportunity for me and I am very grateful to have it. Thank you PMA.
Mr. Owen Leitch
Producer at CBC Radio-Canada to travel to CRTV, Cameroon
With this bursary Owen will to travel to Cameroon and develop working relationships and understanding with the journalists in the television newsroom of CRTV. Owen explains his reasons for choosing Cameroon below:
“I am delighted to receive this year’s Public Media Alliance travel bursary, which will enable me to witness first-hand how television news is produced at Cameroon Radio and Television (CRTV).
A journalistic exchange of this kind is an exceedingly rare opportunity to share ideas with working professionals at another publicly-owned bilingual broadcaster. As a television producer working at CBC Radio-Canada, I’m curious to see how CRTV broadcasts in both English and French on the same network. It’s a model bilingual integration that could hold lessons for Canada, and I look forward to seeing it in action.”
Also, the Canadian government considers Cameroon’s economy to be a “priority market”. In fact, Canadian mining assets in the country were valued at more than 60 million dollars in 2012. In this context, an exchange with CRTV is an opportunity not only to further my understanding of civil society in Cameroon, but also to observe my own country’s influence in the region.
The expansion of digital news coverage poses both a challenge and an opportunity for traditional broadcasters all over the world. CRTV is already interacting with its audience on a variety of platforms, including digital versions of its newscasts. This travel bursary will also allow me to observe, contrast and learn from how an African broadcaster is adapting to the digital age.”
The bursars will travel at different points throughout 2016 and we thoroughly look forward to reading their reports.
The Public Media Alliance is grateful to the Grace Wyndham Goldie Trust for their continued support for these bursaries.
Related Posts
Meet our 2017 Travel Bursars
We are pleased to announce the names…