Media workshop for working journalists on 'The Art of Interview' successfully concluded

The first course of the series on the 'The Art of Interview' successfully concluded recently and attracted tremendous interest and participation from the journalists.

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 are presented a Certificate from Zayed University Media Center, the continuing education and research division of the College of Communication and Media Sciences at Zayed University.

The workshop on 'The Art of Interviewing' was lead by Dr. Kenneth Starck, Dean of the College of Communication and Media Sciences at Zayed University with the support of Adel Jendli, Assistant Professor, College of Communication and Media Sciences. Dr. Starck is a former journalist and news ombudsman.

As part of the workshop the participants had the chance to interview Dr. Larry Wilson, Provost, Zayed University.

Dr. Kenneth Strack said, 'Based on feedback from the participants, the workshop appears to have been a big success. That is probably because participants were highly motivated and eager to learn new skills or refresh old ones. In an age of rapid change, professionals in all fields have to keep up with what's going on. One way to do that is through workshops such as this. It's clear: Anyone in a professional communication position has to be eager to learn and improve her or his skills.'

'We, at Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) find that those unique courses cope with our pursuit to strengthen our commitment to the community in general as well as extending a professional assistance to journalists in particular', Mrs. Nuha Mohammed Safar, Director of Public Relations & Events at (DCCI) said.

She also mentioned the Chamber's initiative of launching its 'Dubai University College'(DUC), some years ago, which provides B.A degree programs in Business Administration and Information Technology, and is geared up for establishing Higher studies programs soon. Besides, it provides business community with professional training and awareness courses related to their businesses, as well as scholarships for a number of secondary school certificate obtainers every year to take on their college degrees at the (DUC).

Mrs. Safar praised the mutual effort of both Dubai Press Club and Zayed University which designed the courses

'We are very pleased with the tremendous response and interest in the media courses we are organizing,' said Mohammed Al Mansoori, Deputy Manager, 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 Mansoori.

Taryam Al Subaihi, Journalist from Gulf News who participated in the first workshop said, 'In my opinion, the workshop was extremely successful, fulfilling all my expectations and more. I only wish it could have run for a longer period of time but I'm looking forward to the next workshop with great anticipation.'

The second and the third workshop in the series on the 'Language of Reporting' and 'Story 'Structure and Story Mapping' would be held in September and October. 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.