Programme to nurture Emirati media leaders launched

Abu Dhabi: To bridge the gap between the eastern and western media the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation launched an educational programme yesterday to nurture the next generation of Emirati media leaders.

The founder of the foundation, Hoda Al Khamis Kanoo, told Gulf News that the re-launch of the new Young Media Leaders Programme is set to provide more comprehensive training for students in all forms of media with an aim to bridge the current void between the state of the western and eastern media realms.

Hoda said: "Today we have a media war." She went on to say that the western world's surpassing of the quality of media in the Arab world is because they learned how to tell stories effectively.

"In order for us to move forward we need to learn how to sell our stories to the world," said Hoda. She said today television in the region is all about the marketing of products. "There is no message behind it."

Therefore, a core aspect of the foundation's efforts in supporting local talents within the media industry is to address the importance of ensuring the ongoing and active involvement of nationals in the telling of their own stories in "their own way with their own spirit".

In collaboration with twofour54 tadreeb, top students from the Higher Colleges of Technology, Zayed University and UAE University will be given opportunities outside their course curriculum to attend a series of seminars, workshops and internships. This will allow them to master skills in website design and development, photojournalism, video journalism, interviewing and TV presenting skills.