Hundreds of journalists from Estonia and Latvia are expected to receive training in various aspects of their profession under a program funded by the European Unionнs Tempus program and the Danish program Baltic Educational Island, according to a report from the Baltic Media Centre (BMC) of Denmark.

A pledge of 800,000 ECUs from Tempus and an expected 300,000 ECUs from the Danish program (a total of about $13.1 million) will fund a postgraduate courses for 590 journalists in print and broadcast from the two Baltic countries. Topics of study include reporting on European and European Union affairs, and training in news, current affairs and features. Six-month courses incorporating distance learning on the Internet will be offered by Denmarkнs University of Roskilde and BMC. A one-week course will be taught at the European Journalism Centre in the Netherlands. Courses in the journalistsн home countries will be offered by the Estonian Media Centre in cooperation with the University of Tartu. In Latvia, training will take place at the University of Latvia.

The program targets journalists who lack a formal media education background. The training will take place during weekends and evenings and be combined with the weeklong courses at BMC. The two-year program will begin in spring 1999 with development of curriculum and formation for trainers, and the courses are to begin in the fall.

For more information contact Bent Noerby Bonde, managing director of Baltic Media Centre, Skippergade 8, DK-3740 Svaneke, Denmark. Tel: (45-70) 202-002. Fax: (45-70) 202-001. E-mail: bentnoerbybonde@bmc.dk. Web site: http://www.dk-web.com/bmc .