ABU DHABI, 24th September, 2023 (WAM) – Under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Chairman of the Arab Youth Center, the activities of the second week of the fifth edition of the Young Arab Media Leaders Programme are continuing, with the participation of 51 young men and women from 18 Arab countries.

The programme included interactive workshops and practical lectures that discussed a variety of topics and issues, including environmental journalism, climate change, and sustainability at the Dubai Youth Center, the Dubai Press Club in cooperation with Google, the Al-Mashhad TV, the Bloomberg TV, the American University in Dubai, the New Media Academy, Al-Bayan newspaper, Sky News, CNN, and the Emirates News Agency (WAM).

The programme, which is organised by the Arab Youth Center, is one of the largest training functions that focus on practical skills at the level of the Arab world, in partnership with media institutions and academies, and targets outstanding young people in the final stages of university studies or at the beginning of their professional career after graduation, with the aim of enhancing their skills, building their capabilities, enriching their experiences, and raising their competitiveness for the labor market.

Addressing the programme, Mohammed Jalal Al Rayssi, Director-General of the Emirates News Agency (WAM), spoke about the tools and requirements for ensuring success and excellence in the media field. He addressed the issue during a special discussion session on the role of media and youth in Arab cultural work where he focused on the importance of acquiring knowledge and continuous learning, and keeping pace with and adopting modern technological tools and artificial intelligence in the media field, and developing the media skills of young cadres through specialised training courses.

Al Rayssi stressed that the media field in the coming stage will face a major challenge as “AI tools and technologies today enable the preparation of content in smart ways, without human intervention, and it has also become easy to insert false information into content that no one notices, and to spread it widely to have negative effects, which requires us to adopt and keep pace with technology in a positive way and harness it to serve the media and society in the right way.”

He added that despite the existing challenges, “the current time is ripe for excellence in the field of media, away from the private and directed agendas of some international media institutions, noting the qualified and trained media human resources in the Arab world that can achieve the goals and aspirations of their countries and contribute to the development of their societies.”

He added: "We need well qualified, specialised media professionals in the Arab world in the coming period, such as the environment, technology, science, and others, who have the knowledge and ability to deliver information and raise awareness of various issues."

Al-Rayssi touched on the importance of providing meaningful content that benefits society and “serves the process of development and progress in the Arab world, and reflects our true values that we were raised on.”

He stressed that it is "an important matter, especially in a changing world, and there are few countries that are keen to keep these values, and it should be paid attention to, especially in the case of media and electronic wars on values in different countries."

At the end of the session, Al-Rayssi answered the questions of the participants, which focused on the role of national media as a tool for conveying the achievements of the country and its civilisational message. The participants also asked about the preparations for the next session of the World Media Congress.

He affirmed that the national media is keen to perform its developmental role to the fullest possible extent thanks to the support and patronage of the UAE wise leadership. “The media carries a lofty message in introducing the world to the developmental achievements of the country and its vision for the future.”

A session titled "The Role of Content in Developing the Tool" was held at the Creative Youth Centre in Dubai. During the session, Saud Al Darbi, Head of the News and Publishing Centre at Dubai Media Incorporated, and Editor-in-Chief of Al Bayan newspaper, spoke about the need for media institutions to keep pace with the developments of artificial intelligence tools. He astressed the importance of elevating the content and promoting professionalism of the media message.
Hanada Taha Thomure, Director, Zayed University, Zai Arabic Language Research Center, spoke about the importance of the Arabic language in the media. She cited examples of media programmes whose content is in Arabic and the impact they have had on the public. She called on young people to the importance of speaking Arabic and preserving it to safeguard heritage and identity.

Al-Mashhad organsed a lecture entitled "Youth and Media: Skills and Opportunities". During the lecture, head of the news department, Jaafar Al-Zaabi, spoke about "mobile journalism" and the most important skills that a journalist should have to keep up with technological developments and competition on social media.

Sky News Arabia Academy organised a number of lectures focusing on developing the skills of participants in "journalism and journalistic writing", "television media", "photojournalism and video", and "media production". Abdulla Jadallah, news director at Sky News Arabia, presented a session in which he shed light on the dimensions of development in the field of media and the modern technologies used. He explained that "the acceleration and development of media content over the past years is mainly due to technological development." He also exchanged with the youth audience on the discussion of patterns of producing influential content and modern media outlets.

Michele Haddad, a presenter and host, spoke the skills of writing, preparing, and presenting news bulletins and reports, as well as the mental skills required in a news presenter. Bassem Kamel, director of Sky News Arabia radio, also presented a lecture on "podcasting".

Google organised a workshop on environmental tools for journalists that discussed the latest technological tools that the company offers to help journalists in their work.

The American University in Dubai held a lecture on the role of the media in achieving a sustainable society. Nezar Ajaj Andary. Associate Professor of Digital Production and Storytelling, spoke about the challenges of achieving sustainability and environmental issues, especially with the upcoming COP28. Sophie Boutros, Executive Director, Mohammed Bin Rashid School for Communication. Mohammed Bin Rashid School for Communication, also discussed in a workshop the most important things that a content creator should consider, as well as enhancing values and credibility in addition to developing Arab cinema.