Bi-communal video training for civil societies

BI-COMMUNALITY is being bolstered by the Cyprus Community Media Centre (CCMC) which offers various media courses for civil society organisations, also known as NGOs, in an effort to help them develop media and communication skills with the public.

One such group, last week, presented their experience of a two-day video editing course in the form of short films.

The aim of these courses is to encourage community media in Cyprus and support local organisations in getting their message across to the public.

“Within just two days the CCMC has given us the basic skills to edit footage into a finished product,” said one of the participants. “Usually civil society organisations and NGOs struggle to afford professional film makers to create films about their work but with these skills we can start making basic short films ourselves…we can use the film to promote our work and raise awareness of vital issues,” said the participant.

The training involved intensive post-production skill building, which enabled participants to convert video footage into viewable material. The subjects tackled, using professional editing software, were video capture, logging, colour correction, sound mixing and adding credits among other things.

This is the second time a video editing training course has been offered for civil society organisations, the first time being last April. It was so popular the first time round that the CCMC brought it back for a second time in early February.

All the centre’s sessions take place at the CCMC’s Community Space on the Ledra Palace Grounds in Nicosia. Training is provided in English, with Greek and Turkish speakers providing language support.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.