US Ambassador to Zambia Dan Foote says his government will to train more Zambian journalists in investigative journalism, realising the important role that journalists play in the development of any given country.

Speaking during the just ended two-day investigative journalism training which was conducted by American reporter and Training Consultant Lucinda Fleeson at Maya Angelou Corner at NIPA on Tuesday, Ambassador Foote said he had observed some of the challenges journalists were facing in executing their duties.

He urged journalists to use the training to strengthen their investigative reporting.

“We have seen the work that you journalists are doing in assisting Zambia with freedom of speech, freedom of the media and press. We see some of the challenges that are faced by you guys as members of the press here in Zambia. Through this [training] here, I want to recognise the efforts you are putting to achieve the highest journalistic standards that you can. Your commitment to your on going training is important for you and your country as well,” said Ambassador Foote.

“We seek to train more journalists than we previously because we think that the work you so is so important for the continued development of the country and your continued accountability to your people for and to your government institutions. It’s important that we you continue to do this. I hope that you will take away new and strengthen towards investigative journalism. I also want to thank you to your commitment to the truth and to a better Zambia.”

And Gleeson said she expected journalists to dig beyond regular news.

“The idea is that we go beyond the regular news of not just taking a hand out of regular news but going a step further to dig some other facts and put them together,” said Fleeson.