Purpose/Activities

The International Institute for Journalism (IIJ) is part of the German Society of International Cooperation (GIZ) and belongs to a worldwide network of advanced training providers in the media. It has the core task of supporting a free and independent press in developing, threshold and transformation countries. In this capacity, the IIJ represents a key pillar in the media promotion work of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The training programme of the IIJ aims at strengthening the professional competence and ethical standards of newspaper, news agency and online journalists in the partner countries. At the same time the IIJ provides support to regional journalism schools in order to enhance their technical, pedagogical and organisational know-how.

The content of the IIJ‘s courses considers the main topics of German development cooperation. A strong emphasis is placed on the following areas:

Political, economic and environmental reporting

Multimedia and online journalism;

Media ethics and politics;

Newspaper management and strengthening the capacity of regional journalisms schools;

Alumni programme.

At present the main target regions of the IIJ programmes are sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Middle East.