While many were preparing to get ready for a "Friday party", and some getting ready for a challenging first week of the windy-August, for me this was a shot of another unforgettable memories as we has an educational trip at the Namibia Press Agency (NAMPA) .
Working for a news agency is print journalism student's dream. With a lot to learn in the media industry, this was a bit challenging compared to what is being learnt during theoretical lessons. This trip brings together the first, second and third year Journalism and media students to experience real-life media industry and to also enhance their skills and learning through observation on what is being done.
Most of students show up early and get their notebook and camera ready for the eye-opening experience.
About NAMPA
Established in 1991, as a national news agency, NAMPA is responsible for distribution of local, regional and international news.
Starting of with a Dairy meeting at 08:00AM the Editorial manager give brief introduction on NAMPA do and highlight on the news kinds of news covered by NAMPA. He emphasized on the power of writing and cover some of the responsibility for a journalist.
Followed by the News Editor's presentation who introduced us to the NAMPA Editorial team. Since NAMPA is a 24 hour news agency, she stressed on being reliable and here are some of the quality she highlighted;
• Being reliable
• Accurate presentation of facts
• Avoiding plagiarism
• Being able to develop a good introduction
• Not relying on one source
• Being neutral (cover both side of the story
• Balancing stories
• Avoiding subjectivity
• Working quickly to meet tight deadlines
• Punctuality
• Finding story angles (brainstorming ideas)
The news editor gave chance to all the journalists to present their stories.
And then energetic interns shared their first day of work experience, how they keep the fire burning and some of the challenges they faced.
Then we were introduced to the NAMPA PR website and the NAMPA TV. With a whole package from news to business, lifestyle & entertainment and sports with high quality video and of course extravaganza presenters .
The business editor who is also NAMPA Spotlight magazine Editor wrap it up with NAMPA's core values (NEWS) which stands for:
N-INovation (to remain relevant)
E- Ethics( having a strong moral principles of journalism and adhering to Journalist's code of ethics)
W- Win together (working together as a team)
S-Service(providing quality services to the people/audience)
After the dairy meeting was off, we tour through the building and see how the work are being done.
What I like most about NAMPA is that they have a good content, team work spirit, well organize news and good presentation skills. Unlike some house media, NAMPA has three Sub-editors this could probably be the reason why they are producing quality and most liked news.
I would recommend media students to visit this news agency as it will help them gain practical knowledge and be open-minded on their chosen field of studies.
