The training, led by French journalist and media law specialist Jocelyn Grange, included lectures, field work and coaching on specific reporting projects. It was organized by the International Center for Journalists in collaboration with the Senegalese journalists’ union SYNPICS.

The Dakar program was offered as a follow-up to a four-week online course in investigative reporting, which took place during the month of July. Both courses were part of an 18-month ICFJ project called “Strengthening the Truth Tellers”, a multimedia program designed to bolster Senegalese journalists and their media associations.

"This is one of the best trainings I have done in Africa. I worked with journalists with a good professional level, with good interactivity, and it was also fruitful to me,” said Grange, the trainer, who worked alongside Mouhamadou Tidiane Kassé, ICFJ’s Senegal country director.

Participants were equally pleased.

Journalist Souleymane Faye said the course “showed me that investigative journalism is not easy. But with this training we now know how to be tenacious. The research tools we have discovered and the processes we learned are very helpful in this direction.”

George Nesta Diop, a senior journalist at the daily newspaper Wal Fadjri, said: "We have clearer ideas on the development of the hypothesis of investigation. Online training was good but it has limits. The personal contact is important to go further in the discussions ".

Participants were divided into two groups, those who participated in the online course and those who didn’t. The first group of participants spent time working with Grange on the projects they developed during the online phase. The second part of the training, which both groups attended, was an “Introduction to Story-based Inquiry”.

The 10 journalists who were selected from the online course work for major Senegalese dailies and weeklies, or as website managers. The training course, held August 9th to 20th at the SYNPICS offices in Dakar, was part of an investigative journalism series. The third phase will be held in October.