Media Training Program for Children and Youth in Sharjah comes to a successful end

SHARJAH: The Sharjah Press Club, an initiative of the Sharjah Government Media Bureau, wrapped up today the 6th edition of the Ithmaar Media Training Program for Children and Youth, which seeks to build and enhance media awareness and capabilities among children and youth between the ages of 10 to 17 years.

The 6th edition of Ithmaar featured a diverse agenda spanning four weeks and 64 hours of training workshops as well as field trips to introduce participants to various visual and print media, empower them with media skills, discover their passion and inculcate in them a media culture in creative ways that combined education, practical application and fun.

The training workshops included the various aspects of media work, interactive activities and field visits to major media institutions in the country, including CNN Arabic, the Arabian Radio Network, and Al Khaleej newspaper, to introduce participants to media work and experience the media experience up close.

The Ithmaar dealt with the media passion, artificial intelligence journalism and its techniques in producing media content with practical applications presented by CNN Arabic. Participants were explained the essentials of journalistic writing skills with practical application. The trainees also studied the basics of publishing news in print and visual media.

The program featured a training workshop in cooperation with the Sharjah Police General Command on security media for children, and how to formulate its messages, with a presentation on the ‘Little Policeman’ magazine experience.

The Ithmaar trainees were also taught about the importance of ensuring the authenticity of facts, staying clear of rumours, distinguishing facts from fake news and false information and ways of verifying the accuracy of news.

The training program also featured lessons about essential designing skills, visual creativity and practical applications through the design tool Canva. The trainees studied photojournalism and editing skills besides using their smartphones to create successful media content with the help of various tools and smart applications.

As part of their training, the students were familiarised with a host of practical applications at the Al Majaz Amphitheatre media studio to discover their media talents and aptitudes.

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The training also included a training workshop on the art of media presentation, audio recording and creating your own podcast. The program included a specialised workshop on creativity in social media communication and production and photography skills.