By Charlie Ligomeka

Machinga, December 22 Mana: National Initiative for Civic Education (NICE) Trust on Sutarday trained news reporters in Machinga drawn from six media houses on governance and democracy reporting, noting that the media has proven a true partner in providing civic education and promoting good governance.

District Programmes Officer for NICE Trust, Francis Mugwa, said the training aimed at equipping the reporters with knowledge on democracy and good governance issues for effective reporting

 “We want to provide reporters with the necessary knowledge regarding access to information. We will also have a media liaison officer responsible for communicating with reporters and offering training programmes,” Mugwa added.

He said that NICE Trust will facilitate reporters’ access to experts, provide travel grants, to promote transparency and accountability.

“We will ensure that NICE Trust operations, decisions, and actions are open and accessible to the public and media. This will help build trust and credibility,” he said.

He said NICE Trust recognizes the critical role the media plays in promoting democracy and governance on top of holding those in power accountable.

Speaking during the training, Machinga District Council spokesperson, Martin Chiwanda, said the training was relevant to the reporters who are responsible for reporting issues of governance and democracy.

“Most reporters shy away from reporting on these issues due to the time it takes to get responses from duty bearers. This prevents them from focusing on critical topics,” he said.

Chiwanda commended NICE Trust for organizing the training, observing this will help reporters understand rights to information access and procedures to follow when accessing information in the public interest.

“There is a need to fully train reporters to understand their role regarding Access to Information law and how they can get information in line with this law. It's unfortunate that many know they have that right but don't know the procedures,” Chiwanda said.

Haneeph Maula, a Machinga District based Nations Newspaper Correspondent hailed the capacity building session, saying the training was timely as reporters will be able to explore issues of democracy and good governance with better understanding.

He expressed optimism that the training will have a positive impact on the quality of reporting on issues of democracy and good governance.

The meeting was organized through Boma Lathu project with funding from the European Union and the Malawi Government.