Mr Khalil Idrissi, the President of Atlantic Federation of African Press Agencies (FAAPA),
has urged African news agencies to actively contribute to the development of African sports information.
He made the call at the opening of a five-day training on sports journalism on Monday in Rabat with the
theme “Mastery of Technigues for Good Practice of Sports Journalism.”
Represented by Mohamed Anis, Secretary-General of FAAPA, organisers of the training, Idrissi said that the
training would enhance the capacity of journalists for better coverage of sporting events.
He said it would also help to establish a network of sports journalists from African news agencies for better
information sharing and dissemination.
He urged journalists to respect and sustain the principles and ethics of the profession, while reflecting on the
challenges facing sports media.
In a paper presentation, Najib Salmi, a veteran sports journalist, said fake news through the social media was
a challenge to sports journalism and journalism in general.
He urged journalists to uphold the ethics of the profession and be passionate about the job to avoid
pushing out misleading reports to the public.
Sheku Turay, a participant from the Sierra Leone News Agency who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN),
said the training would make him a better sports journalist.
He said “this training among other things, would add to the knowledge I acqiured before now.”
Stephen Asante, a particpant from the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said the training exposed him to emerging
trends and challenges associated with sports journalism.
A total of 23 participants from 20 African news agencies and experts in the sports sector are attending the training
in the Moroccan capital.
FAAPA was established in October 2014 as a professional platform to encourage exchange of experiences and
to promote cooperation among news agencies in areas of common interest.
It also strategises to position news agencies to remain relevant with regard to the fast changing trends in
multimedia technologies, as well as championing professional ethics. (NAN)
