Here are today's Interwise notes as promised.
Story Ideas
1. Girls education in Somaliland.
What is the state of girl education in Somaliland?
How many girls are in Somaliland? Go to school?
Out of school?
Interview girls out of school? Why are you not in school?
Education officials, parents of girls out of school.
2. Hospital situation in Somaliland.
Situation improving. Cost sharing between society and government.
Ministry of Health officials. How is the situation improving?
Before . What was the situation like previously, e.g. hospitals, beds, doctors,
nurses, medicines.
Doctors? Members of the public – just a few.
Hospital administrators.
3.If Snooper could be Mayor of Hargeisa.
Humor. Corruption at City Hall.
Interviewed members of the public.
Interview officials in mayor’s office
Interview councilors
Interview hawkers
4. Kat menace in Somaliland
Interview Kat chewers
Kat trader
Interview doctors on effects of Kat.
5. Media development in Somaliland.
Media editors and journalists. Tasks and challenges in media business.
Censorship, harassment, freedom of the press
Publishers. Business of the media.
Ask members of the public what they think about the media in Somaliland. Ask 2
-3 people.
6. Private and public education in Hargeisa.
Differences?
How many private and public schools are in Hargeisa? What are their enrollments?
Ministry of education officials.
What are the differences in quality of education between private and public
schools in Hargeisa.
Non Government Organizations that deal with education support.
Business leaders. What do they think in terms of employing graduates from either
public or private schools
7. Disparity between old and new laws in Somaliland.
Lawyers, law professors, MPs, Justice Ministry officials
What are the differences between old and new laws?
How can the public learn about the laws that affect them?
What is the government plan to educate the public about the laws – old and new.
Ask a few members of the public about how much they know about the laws (new
laws).
8. Recent developments in Somaliland.
Telecommunications. Internet developments.
Telecommunications companies, government officials. Facilities for internet
access in Somaliland.
Internet cafes. Visit an internet café. Find out how people use computers and
the Internet. What information are they looking for ?
Cellphones. What is the state of cell use in Somaliland? Many Somalilanders
using cell phones?
Interview cell companies.
9. Political reform in Nigeria.
What is the nature of political reform in Nigeria?
The good and the bad about political reform in Nigeria
1. Political/party leaders/officials
2. Public
3. Academics/ professors at universities
4. Government ministers responsible for political reform.
5. Journalists.
6. MPs
Questions:
What are the proposed political reforms?
Why are these reforms being made?
What advantages do the reforms have over the old system?
Do the reforms have popular support?
Who is for and who is against these reforms? Why?
10. Unemployment situation in Nigeria.
What is the situation. How many Nigerians are unemployed? What is the
unemployment rate in Nigeria?
Why is there so much unemployment in Nigeria?
What are the prospects for employment for graduates in Nigeria?
Why is the Nigerian economy not generating enough jobs for the graduates?
Interview.
Ministry of Labor and Productivity. Officials.
Trade Union officials
Business sector. What skills are you looking for?
Academic/ economics professors at universities.
Members of the public – unemployed
The informal economy. Self help projects.
Do they offer alternatives to employment in the formal sector.
Government programs to support self help projects.
Look for success cases in self help projects.
Loans for people wishing to start their own businesses.
Or government support for skills training or retraining.
11.
Developing your story.
Step 1. Topic.
Step 2. List people to be interviewed. Make sure the people you will interview
will give you a balanced picture of the topic.
Step 3. Do some background research on the topic.
Checking your local newspaper for any published stories on the topic. Check
magazines, radio or Tv programs.
Stanford G. Mukasa, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Journalism Department
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
434 Davis Hall
Indiana PA15705
Phone/VoiceMail: (724)3573097
Cell: (724)4670001
Fax: (724)3577845
Email: mukasa@iup.edu
URL:
http://www.chss.iup.edu/mukasa/