Wednesday 2nd August 2017

Being a journalist in Somalia carries both risk and reward. The risk comes from al-Shabab militants and other armed groups who have killed at least 26 reporters in the last five years, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The reward is having a job with one of the many independent media outlets that have sprung up despite chronic violence and the absence of any journalism schools in Somalia.

Somalia's National University is trying to fill the education void by reopening its journalism school for the first time in 26 years. The Faculty of Journalism and Communication Science could begin classes as early as next month, instructing up to 60 students. Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire addressed — and challenged — prospective students at a relaunch ceremony Tuesday in Mogadishu.

"The first students who will have the opportunity to attend this faculty will get the chance to be part of the Somali history," Khaire said. "You will have to write a new history for the Somali people, and be part of the rebuilding of the country."

Read more from Voice of America here.

Somali journalist Mohamed Mohamud holds his camera in the Medina hospital compound in Mogadishu, Somalia, Jan. 18, 2013. Mohamud was killed on the job in 2013. Photo/Voice of America