Learning to communicate about drug abuse, human trafficking and migrant smuggling

An “International Workshop on Journalistic Reporting on the Prevention of Drug Use and Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling” has been held within the framework of the project to support Bolivian institutions in the fight against drug trafficking and related crimes. The project is being managed by FIIAPP in coordination with CONALTID‘s Coordination Secretariat, with funding from the European Union and AECID.

This training is another example of the project’s commitment to the prevention of these problems, through communication activities that improve the impact of journalists’ actions. With a theoretical-practical approach, the objective was to improve the techniques journalists use when writing about the issue.

Spanish journalist Juan Antonio Aunión Borreguero participated as a teacher in the workshop, he specialises in covering social and educational issues at El País and the workshop will end with the publication of the articles written promoting moves towards prevention and the fight against drugs, human trafficking and migrant smuggling. The workshop continues the work FIIAPP started through the Journalistic Feature Contest it held in 2017.

To increase the impact of the training, more than 20 national media outlets, both public and private, were invited, with the participation of 24 professionals. Specifically, the journalists came from La Razón, Página 7, El Extra, El Diario, Prensa Latina, El Alteño, La correo, Cambio, Los tiempos, ANF, El Deber, NEXO, Erbol and RTP.

The workshop was closed with the presence of the government minister and representatives from the Embassy of the EU Delegation and the Spanish Embassy in Bolivia, which demonstrated the great interest the institutions have in the activity. For the minister, Carlos Romero, this type of training adds value to FIIAPP’s work, in this case not only for the police but also for the world of journalism.