A second workshop for Journalistic Education for the Pesantren Community in West Java was held at the Bumi Wiyata Hotel, Depok from February 26 – March 1, 2007 and was attended by 28 teachers (ustadz and ustadah) from pesantren throughout West Java. The participants originated from areas including Ciamis, Garut, Tasikmalaya, Cirebon, Bogor, Majalengka, Bandung, Sumedang, Karawang, Sukabumi and Jakarta and included 21 male and 7 female participants.

This training program was the second in a planned series of Journalistic Education activites which consist of a workshop, training and a field visit. In the previous workshop the material focused on the basic theoretical aspects of writing, however this most recent training activity focused on exploring theory further and applying it in a practical sense.

Participants were asked to prepare a simple media bulletin by the end of the training, complete with a good layout and interesting articles. For the practice writing activity, participants were divided up into groups to create a newsletter. They also went out into the field to interview resource persons who would provide information for the basis of their articles. Following this, each group presented their newsletter and participants from other groups were given the opportunity to provide comments and constructive criticism on the results.
 
The theoretical components which were taught in this training program included:
1.    Interview Techniques
2.    News Writing Techniques (title, lead, topic, straight and soft news, feature)
3.    Editing Techniques
4.    Devising a Media Publication
5.    Creating a Media Layout
6.    Finding News Ideas
7.    Devising a Main Article

On the final day of the training program, participants had the opportunity to vist “Gatra” magazine in order to learn more about all things related to journalism. At the Gatra offices, the group received a warm welcome from the chief editor, Mr. Asrori Karni and the head of the Human Resources Department, Mr. Manampin Siregar. Gatra staff provided a brief presentation on the background of the magazine and its operation and then opened up the floor to questions about journalism in general. Here participants queried Gatra staff on the day to day aspects of running a media outlet as well as how to develop one from the ground up. Following this participants were taken on a brief tour of the Gatra offices before returning to Hotel Bumi Wiyata.

The third and final activity of this program is being planned for June, 2007.