Dubai Women's College UNESCO Chair and U.S. Embassy hold training program for Arabic female journalists Dubai, 25 May 2005 -- Dubai Women's College (DWC) UNESCO Chair for Communication Technology and Journalism, in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy's American Center for Press and Cultural Affairs, held a training program for a group of twenty-two Arab female journalists and educators from the UAE.

 
United Arab Emirates: Wednesday, May 25 – 2005. © 1996-2005 by AME Info FZ LLC. All rights reserved.


The intensive, hands-on, three-day workshop titled 'Effective use of the Internet for Journalists' covered strategies and techniques to better use the internet and technology in all aspects of journalism.

Participants were introduced to effective web surfing techniques to retrieve data and news from various internet resources by the program trainers Helmi Noman, an ICT regional specialist and the Director of the Information Resource Center at the U.S Embassy's American Press and Cultural Center in Abu Dhabi. He was joined by Henry Mendelsohn, the Regional Information Resources Officer at the U.S. Embassy, and serves as a consultant to the American Embassy Information Resource Centers on the Arabian Peninsula, Jordan and Lebanon. 'Throughout the world, technology has also been a great gender equalizer, but this has been particularly evident in the Middle East in the media field with great social and cultural barriers being broken down which previously impeded women,' stated Reem Obeidat, DWC UNESCO Chair. This training event was developed to assist female journalists and educators to make further advances in their field in the region.

The workshop also reflected the importance and means of evaluating information resources on the Internet. As online journalism and its practices face growing ethical concerns, the workshop covered techniques and methods to examine the credibility and consistency of information presented by websites and online journals. Participants in the workshop also learned about recent developments in the IT world and some of the latest applications on the rise, such as the blogging phenomenon. 'Through previous research and events held by the UNESCO Chair, we found that women working in media in the region are in great need of professional development and training, so this event is supporting the need for much requested training,' added Reem Obeidat.

'Print and broadcast journalism are no longer the only means for journalists to communicate their news to the world, a workshop of this kind reflects the great impact of technology and its implementations on today's media and journalism,' stated Reem Obeidat. 'Anyone with a web connection has access to immediate information but credibility of this information is something everyone should think with careful analysis.'

The purpose of the UNESCO Chair at DWC is to promote professional education and training for journalists and media practioners with a special interest in enabling women to develop careers in media in the United Arab Emirates and throughout the Arab region. 'We intend to repeat the course due to the positive feedback from participants and will offer more progressive courses to those who participated in the inaugural training to assist in their professional development.'

Related Information:
About DWC - Dubai Women's College, with more than 2,300 students, is a part of the Higher Colleges of Technology. The HCT is one of the leading higher education institutions in the UAE with 12 campuses located throughout the country delivering a wide range of quality programs to over 14,500 students.

© 1996-2005 by AME Info FZ LLC. All rights reserved.
This story was posted by Anne-Birte Stensgaard, News Editor
Wednesday, May 25 - 2005 at 14:23 UAE local time (GMT+4)
Print Date: Thursday, May 26 - 2005 - 11:58:12 GMT+4