Most of them were female with only four males in the group. They spent the academic year attending monthly workshops at twofour54 Tadreeb on website design and development, photojournalism, video journalism, art of writing, how to cover an event, how to write for a magazine, presentation skills, and video production for websites.
After the workshops came assignments to cover, to design, to photograph, to film, to present out of which they would learn. What the students did can be seen on the website www.mynews.ae that shows their work and allows them and the public to interact through journalism and comment.
At the graduation ceremony at the Yas Hotel last month, the graduates heard Mrs. Hoda Al Khamis- Kanoo, founder of ADMAF, say, “Inspiration is the key to unlocking the talent that lies within each individual. With this in mind, we have been able to
introduce these young apprentices to a panorama of experiences and a plethora of leading figures.” Keynote speaker Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi pointed to what lies ahead for the group. “The establishment of twofour54, the inauguration of CNN’s fourth global hub in Abu Dhabi, the launch of The National, and the future creation of News Corp regional office in the UAE capital will all demand that journalistic standards be constantly upgraded,” he explained. “The Young Media Leaders graduates will certainly be in a great position to work in this industry as a result of this educational opportunity.”
Ali Al Afeefi from Abu Dhabi Men’s College was an engineering student who entered the program and has now switched to a major in media. He’s “not sure yet” if he wants to go into journalism, but he has been writing in English and Arabic and has three of his pieces on the My News website.
His colleague Meshal Bin Amro is an IT and business major. He’s graduating now from Abu Dhabi Men’s, but he hopes to attend more workshops at twofour54 to prepare himself for becoming a print journalist. Meshal’s goal: to explain Emirati culture to western expats and to other Arabs.
Both Ali and Meshal attended the workshops and events they covered along with female members of the group. Since their higher education has been male-only as is the rule at the national universities, how do they feel about learning with girls? “Privileged,” said Ali, smiling. Meshal said he found the experience “normal” and added, “we can get a lot of ideas from girls.”
Two of the girls are already looking forward to working as journalists for Al Bayan daily newspaper in Dubai. They don’t have jobs secured yet, but they have applied
and know that “they want locals.” Klaithen Al Darmaki and Iman Al Shekely are graduating from UAEU in Al Ain, majors in journalism. Having to come to Abu Dhabi from Al Ain for the training workshops was more difficult for them, but they were happy to get the training. Both said that their parents support their becoming journalists.
However, when asked if parents would agree to her becoming a TV presenter, Iman shook her head, maybe, eventually. Amena Al Hosani from Zayed University was the presenter during the ceremony. She has another semester before she graduates and is planning to work in public relations. “I’m graduating as a PR major,” she said, “and that should be where my career begins. When I start being a
professional, then I’ll see.”
Duaa Fahmi Mukhayer, also from Zayed, said, “I would like to work somewhere where I can apply all that I have learned.” She will graduate in January and is thinking of publishing, printing, photojournalism, perhaps making films for the future.
Cica Al Attas, the only married Young Media Leader, is majoring in international relations at Zayed University and enjoys doing interviews and writing. She wrote the only opinion piece on the website. Her husband who attended the graduation said he has seen Cica’s interests expand since she has been studying journalism and hopes she will keep on writing.
Young Media Leaders was founded in 2007. In the last three years, more than 90 young nationals have gained a unique understanding of global media through a comprehensive and highly intensive program of workshops, lectures, travel, and hands-on experiences.
