AKIPRESS.COM - Two OSCE-supported training seminars on enhancing dialogue and cooperation between the courts and media concluded on July 5 in Almaty, the OSCE said..

The two-day consecutive training seminars covered topics such as effective communication strategies between courts and the media, best practices in interaction with journalists and the general public through various channels and in different contexts, the role of the media in covering court proceedings, and the proper framing of requests to access court acts. The events also included a session dedicated to the use of new media tools and social networks as well as the drafting of press releases and the organization of press briefings.

Some forty judges-co-ordinators, press secretaries, journalists and bloggers from the cities of Almaty, Kyzylorda, Taraz and Shymkent, and the Almaty, East Kazakhstan, Turkestan regions took part in the events. They learned to prepare for public interviews and press conferences, handle conflict situations, interact and respond to critical materials in social media, and also reviewed some practical cases.

The seminars, co-organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Nur-Sultan, the Supreme Court, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Kazakhstan, the League of Court Journalists of Kazakhstan, Internews Kazakhstan and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), are part of the Programme Office’s long-standing efforts to enhance co-operation between courts and the media.