SHARJAH, 3rd August 2023 (WAM) — The Sharjah Press Club, an initiative of the Sharjah Government Media Bureau, successfully concluded the fifth edition of its Itmar Media Training Program on Thursday at Al Qasimiyyah University in Sharjah.
The Ithmar media training program is aimed at children and youth, with the aim of nurturing in them the nascent interest, skills and awareness of the new generation between the ages of 10 and 17.
Alya Al Suwaidi, Director of Sharjah Government Media Bureau, accompanied by Asma Al Juwayed, Manager of Sharjah Press Club, honored the training partners, experts and specialists from national and international media institutions in the presence of students’ parents and school representatives, participating in the program.
The final component of the program involved the presentation of content and articles prepared and submitted by the participating students, demonstrating their skills and Ithmar’s role in honing and developing their creative talents and abilities.
The fifth edition of the Ithmar program witnessed remarkable student participation due to the tangible results it achieved in line with the objectives. Participants in the Ithmar program are selected annually by an external committee of specialists and experts, after personal interviews with the students and their evaluation according to the criteria set for joining the program.
Highly beneficial training and insightful interactive workshops conducted by leading media experts are provided to students participating in the program in collaboration with CNN Arabic, the Dubai Post news website and the Job Shadow Program by the Sharjah Government Media Bureau.
The training program included visits to various media outlets in the country, including Sharjah Broadcasting Authority, Dubai Media Corporation, Al Arabiya News Channel, AlHadath Channel and CNN Arabic.
The training workshops were held at various locations in the emirate, including Al Qasimiyyah University, Sharjah Center for Entrepreneurship (Sheraa), Sharjah Frisbee and Al Majaz Amphitheater.
The students presented thesis projects which were carried out in phases divided according to the time frame of the program to identify the knowledge, skills of the students and to observe the tangible result of the initiative leading to the early identification of talents in young people to develop national media footage supporting the UAE March of Progress.
The training program focuses on building awareness of true and false information, dealing with rumors and protecting against social media intrusion. During the one-month training period, participants had the opportunity to learn about many media skills and technologies, including artificial intelligence journalism, as well as the possibilities and tools that technology provides in media content production processes.
Students were armed with a basic understanding of the different types of media and their impact, the different stages of news production, news research skills, steps to creating video and audio content, speaking skills, photography, mobile journalism and the basics of video reporting preparation.