Media Courses for working journalists to commence from Wednesday, May 25th 2005

The first course for which registration is currently open is 'The Art of Interview'. The two-day workshop (25-26 May) will be conducted at the Dubai Press Club premises.

Taught by experienced educators from Zayed University, these workshops are part of a curriculum designed to strengthen the skills of journalists in the fundamentals of their craft and to improve the quality of UAE reporting. Successful participants will receive a Certificate from Zayed University Media Center, the continuing education and research division of the College of Communication and Media Sciences at Zayed University.

"Continuous improvement of skills should be a goal of every professional communicator," says Kenneth Starck, Dean of the College of Communication and Media Sciences at Zayed University. "Professional communicators play a key informational role in making society work successfully, and the Media Center is committed to making available the latest ideas and best practices."

Starck, who will lead the workshop on The Art of Interviewing, is a former journalist and news ombudsman.

Abdulrahman Ghanem Al Mutaiwee, Director-General of Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) said "We consider that the journalist play a notable role in the community and understand the hardships they face for getting the accurate news and conveying it to the public, besides building up the data that helps the decision makers take action. We feel that by sponsoring these courses we are supporting the journalists and helping them to enhance their skills and develop their performance."

"This initiative is in line with the Chamber's initiatives such as "Dubai, the City that cares" every Ramadan and our participation in the annual Dubai Summer Surprises that aims at extending direct service to the community and promote Dubai as a pioneering modern city,", he added.

Nuha Mohammed Safar, Director of PR & Events praised the Dubai Press Club mission of creating various opportunities for improving the qualifications of the journalists, stressing that "these special courses are part of the efforts of DPC, topmost among which is the annual Arab Journalism Award, the most esteemed award in its field."

She also highlighted the distinguished educational and training programs conducted by Zayed University saying they are yet another brilliant aspect of its prominent achievements.

"The Dubai Press Club besides aiming to foster interaction among media professionals around the world also aims at fostering the pursuit of journalistic excellence. In line with this mission we are pleased to offer the training courses for our journalist members organized in collaboration with Zayed University Media Center," said Mona Al Marri, Executive Manager of Dubai Press Club.

"In today's fast track media environment media professionals have to keep up with the demands of their work and also upgrade their skills. These workshops organized in collaboration with ZUMC will provide expertise and instruction that is tailored to the needs of the journalists in the region," added Al Marri.

The first three courses teach the art of the interview, language of reporting and structuring a story to tell the news in easily understandable ways. Intended to work as a unit, these courses will help a reporter develop a nose for news, gather facts, exercise sound news judgment, get quotations that add interest to a story, and create news stories in different formats.