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SAN JOSE, Costa Rica – Journalists from Costa Rica participated in a series of investigative reporting workshops in August 2011 instructed by Institute of the Americas Vice President S. Lynne Walker.

During a week-long training course in the capital of San Jose and in the rural province of Perez Zeledon, Walker trained 127 journalists and journalism students. In addition to working with reporters at the nation’s largest print, radio and television outlets, Walker also met with students at Universidad Latina and the University of Costa Rica.

The Aug. 29-Sept. 1 training course, which was organized by the U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica, focused on new ways of telling stories and on reporting and writing investigative stories on corruption, international gangs and organized crime. The training also focused on the use of social media in reporting stories and emphasized a code of ethics when using social media to inform the public.

During her trip, Walker also met with U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica Anne Andrew, who hosted a luncheon with the nation’s media leaders.  Andrew expressed her support of Costa Rican journalists and their efforts to conduct in-depth reporting on the major news events in the country.

In other news, the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana organized a two-day workshop in August on new techniques for using digital platforms to cover news stories.

During the opening session of the Aug. 18-19, workshop, U.S. Consul General Steven Kashkett recognized the need for digital tools in reporting breaking news stories. He noted that the media has an added responsibility in this era of smart phones and high-speed Internet service to offer immediate coverage of events that are of great public concern.

Some 32 journalists from the Mexican border cities of Tijuana and Mexicali attended the professional workshop, titled, "Journalism in the 21st Century."  The reporters, who work for print, radio, TV and on-line media outlets, discussed the challenges they face in a rapidly changing media environment. They also shared their own experiences and advice about new methods of news delivery.

Walker served as the instructor of the workshop.

In a session titled, "Using Social Media and Digital Journalism to Establish a New Relationship with Your Audience," Walker discussed methods of researching and covering stories via social media such as Facebook and Twitter as well as reviewing new, low-cost Internet tools that journalists can use to tell their stories on media web sites.

A second session offered by Walker and titled, "Ethics, freedom of expression and the growth of web-based media throughout the world," focused on the need for a new code of professional ethics in the era of digital reporting.

The journalists also heard a presentation by Andrew Donohue, executive editor of the San Diego-based on-line web site VoiceofSanDiego.com which was titled, "New Techniques for Digital Investigative Journalism."

Donohue, who served as a 2010 Pulitzer Prize judge, showed reporters ways in which they can offer their audiences award-winning investigative journalism for on-line news sites, even in cases where their media organizations have limited resources.