Lebanese Journalists Trained to Cover Corruption Issues

Posted on April 21, 2013 by magda

Media are NGOs’ partners in the fight against corruption, experts told Lebanese journalists at a workshop in Beirut.

Media have played a key role in uncovering Arab leaders’ corruption, according to Dr. Azmi Shuaibi, the Arab Anti-Corruption and Integrity Network’s Non-Governmental Group coordinator.

Dr. Azmi Shuaibi explains partnership between NGOs and media

He addressed 10 journalists from print, broadcast and online media who attended the training as part of a conference organized by the UN Development Program (UNDP), ACIAC and the Lebanese Justice Ministry.

The April workshop also featured academic Khalil Gebara who asked rhetorically if there was a political will in Lebanon to fight corruption.

Journalists at anti-corruption workshop

“Why aren’t corruption issues on the list of government priorities?” he said.

Dr. Khalil Gebara

Lead trainer and Media Unlimited director Magda Abu-Fadil walked the journalists through the definitions of corruption and how media can play an increasingly important role as watchdogs in the post-Arab Spring environment.

She also briefed them on international standards of investigative journalism and their application to corruption in the Arab world.

Magda Abu-Fadil shows links between anti-corruption coverage and investigative journalism

Another key component is media ethics and its importance in reporting on corruption, she said.

Abu-Fadil also focused on the vital role played by social media and how best to utilize them.

Participants provided a list of recommendations, which UNDP’s Regional Communications Specialist Rut Gomez Sobrino hopes to translate into an action plan.

Lebanese journalists, Rut Gomez Sobrino and Abu-Fadil at anti-corruption workshop

Media Ethics, Violence Against Children on Rotana’s “Sayidati”

Posted on April 1, 2013 by magda

Ethics came to the fore again – this time on the topic of violence against children and how much of it should be covered by the media.

In an interview on the Rotana Khalijia channel’s program “Sayidati,” Media Unlimited director Magda Abu-Fadil stressed the importance of drawing red lines where children are concerned and urging media to abide by guidelines for good journalistic practice on issues related to violence.

Magda Abu-Fadil discusses media ethics and children on Rotana’s “Sayidati”

The show’s segment related the cases of the body of a naked child splashed on TV screens, a girl stricken with AIDS being visited by celebrities, and a boy whose parents abused him.

Abu-Fadil said it was important to create awareness through the media about such incidents but that it was equally critical to ensure that one does not cross that very fine line between reporting and sensationalism.

“Sayidati,” co-hosted by Saudi presenter Maysaa Al Amoudi, is broadcast live from Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia.

MU Director on Cover of UAE Media Mag

Posted on April 1, 2013 by magda

Media Unlimited director Magda Abu-Fadil made it on the cover of “Al I3lam wal 3sr” (Media and Era), a United Arab Emirates monthly magazine focused on media issues.

Cover of Al I3lam wal 3sr includes MU director

The wide-ranging interview in the magazine’s March issue shed light on Abu-Fadil’s career in print, broadcast and online media, as well as her stint in academia and her take on media ethics, social networks, and how to re-purpose oneself as a journalist.

A PDF of the Al I3lam wal 3sr article can be downloaded here.

That’s Entertainment! Training Journalists Covering the Industry

Posted on March 23, 2013 by magda

How can one train journalists in coverage of the entertainment industry?

It’s not just television, radio, the movies and awards shows, but also the performing arts, the lucrative gaming business, health matters, and sometimes sports issues that define entertainment.

Producing entertainment content at MBC’s online Dubai newsroom

Add “infotainment” and “edutainment,” and one has a vast world of news, views, statistics, and countless forms of visual representation to produce and deliver to any number of recipients across multiple mobile platforms.

So juggling news gathering, curation, production and packaging into the right online channels and interacting with one’s audiences via social media to keep the dynamic conversation going requires special talents, skills and a wide base of general knowledge.

Enter Media Unlimited’s Magda Abu-Fadil who worked with a team of very capable and professional entertainment journalists at the MBC Group’s online newsroom in Dubai to sharpen their skills and tweak their copy.

MBC-Al Arabiya building in Dubai

The March 2013 workshop focused on identifying entertainment journalism, tools of the trade, story structure, the art of writing entertainment news, breaking news and features.

The brief course dealt with widening the information base, working with archives, using background data and integrating strong visual elements in all stories.

Not to be overlooked was a dose of media ethics, notably in a field rife with rumors and innuendo.

Magda Abu-Fadil with new MBC friends

The team also learned about interviewing techniques when dealing with celebrities, speeches, news conferences and the use of social media to collect and promote entertainment news.

Journalists Learn to Communicate Women’s Economic Empowerment

Posted on February 13, 2013 by magda

Print and online journalists attending the first in a series of Lebanon-wide workshops on women’s economic empowerment learned about gender mainstreaming in the media, promoting equality, and reviewed case studies of successful initiatives.

Beirut-based reporters and civil society representatives attended a two-day course organized by the Collective for Research and Training on Development – Action (CRTDA) that tackled issues of women in the Lebanese economy, how gender equality translates into smart economics, and, rural women’s cooperatives and their economic impact.

Trainees at CRTDA’s Beirut Workshop

The CRTDA helped set up 36 rural cooperatives in the country’s Bekaa, South and Akkar regions aimed at building women’s productive and leadership skills, facilitating their access to local and international markets and supporting participatory governance and leadership.

Media Unlimited director Magda Abu-Fadil mentored trainees on media challenges to reduce gender gaps, gender-sensitive indicators, and how to use gender-neutral language in their reporting.

A session dedicated to ethics walked them through the dos and don’ts of gender-based coverage and how to avoid reporting pitfalls.

Magda Abu-Fadil Explains Women’s Economic Empowerment

A final session by journalist Saada Allaw featured results of a media audit on coverage of women’s economic empowerment and gender equality issues.

Participants were then tasked with writing a piece for publication in their respective media, which will be reviewed and edited on a third training day weeks after the initial training.

The best coverage from workshops across the country will be awarded and will be published on CRTDA’s website.

Tripoli Trainees Jump on Citizen Journalism Bandwagon

Posted on December 26, 2012 by magda

Fourteen trainees learned how to become citizen journalists while maintaining professional and ethical standards during a workshop organized by the Lebanese Center for Active Citizenship.

The training in December 2012, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, touched on the evolution of modern journalism and how it gave rise to the form today practiced by ordinary citizens.

The Importance of Twitter in citizen journalism

Trainees acquired skills to help with effective coverage of events, through live blogging and vlogging, geographic positioning, and the importance of social media in instant dissemination of news.

Media Unlimited director Magda Abu-Fadil conducted the short course in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli that grouped 12 mass communication students from Al Jinan University and two social activists.

Magda Abu-Fadil with LCAC officials and trainees

Abu-Fadil advised the participants to keep their content short and clear, to use active verbs, to make sure their headlines are relevant and attractive, and, to use key words for easy search engine optimization.

She also stressed the importance of good visuals like photos and videos as well as infographics and simple language.

The attraction of photos and captions

Participants also discussed media standards and ethics with Abu-Fadil reminding them to be accurate, balanced, transparent, truthful, and not to lose sight of context.

Lebanese Students Taste Investigative Journalism

Posted on December 9, 2012 by magda

Twenty-one students got an introduction to investigative journalism and its role in enhancing citizenship at a workshop in Lebanon’s northern port city of Tripoli.

The one-day training involved definitions of investigative journalism, duties and responsibilities of investigative journalists, and how to become reporters covering that beat.

MU director with AUT, LCAC officials and students

Participants were also briefed on how to dig for information, ideas that could be developed into investigative reporting projects, computer-assisted research and reporting (a/k/a data-driven journalism), and skills to evaluate documents and figures.

A final session was dedicated to interviewing techniques and media ethics.

The workshop in November 2012 was conducted by Media Unlimited director Magda Abu-Fadil and organized by the Lebanese Center for Active Citizenship as part of the latter’s “Our Right to Know” campaign.

Abu-Fadil explains fine points of investigative journalism

The students hailed mainly from the American University of Technology’s Tripoli and Halat campuses. A lawyer/student and a reporter from Beirut also joined the group.

MU Leads UAE Investigative Journalism Training

Posted on November 29, 2012 by magda

Over 50 UAE-based journalists feel better equipped to tackle investigative assignments after two intensive courses conducted by Media Unlimited director Magda Abu-Fadil.

“As a general introduction to investigative journalism, procedures and information, it was suitable, but for implementation, one needs more time, which we hope to get (in the future),” said one of the participants.

Abu Dhabi Investigative Journalism Group

It was an eye opener for reporters and editors in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, who attended workshops in November 2012 aimed at sharpening their skills in what is known as data-driven journalism.

The workshop focused on ethics in investigative journalism, ideas for topics to cover, digging for information, use of documents and numbers, and, computer-assisted reporting.

Abu-Fadil explains investigative reporting elements in Abu Dhabi

Reporters and editors from various newspapers and media-related fields attending the course also learned how to combine text with visuals and how to incorporate social media in their projects.

Abu-Fadil in Dubai describes blogs' uses in investigative journalism

The training was organized courtesy of the UAE Journalists Association, the U.S. Embassy in the UAE and the telecommunications company Etisalat.

Dubai Investigative Journalism Workshop Trainer & Trainees

“I benefited on a personal and professional level from this workshop that will have an impact on my work,” said Mohammad Abdel Rasheed from the daily Al Bayan.

Both groups viewed the Watergate scandal classic “All the President’s Men” starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman to get a taste of old-fashioned investigative reporting techniques.

MU Beefs Up Al Arabiya English Journalists’ Abilities

Posted on November 5, 2012 by magda

Media Unlimited director Magda Abu-Fadil drilled four members of Al Arabiya’s English website team in journalism basics, components of news stories and tested their general knowledge in politics, geography, history and mathematics.

Exercises included strengthening story leads, avoidance of redundancies, aversion to oxymorons, and common errors journalists make when writing English copy.

Magda Abu-Fadil and Al Arabiya English website team

She conducted the four-day course in intensive journalism for select members of the satellite news channel at their Dubai headquarters.

The budding journalists learned about setting news priorities by understanding newsworthiness and how to categorize stories in their daily lineups.

Members of Al Arabiya English web team

They also picked up tips on good feature, long story and series writing, as well as efficient ways of digging for information using traditional and online resources.

Abu-Fadil reinforced their ability to find, cultivate and use sources for their stories and how to measure the sources’ credibility.

Profiles, news conferences, speeches, meetings and interviews were part of the October 2012 workshop, as was beat reporting and editorializing.

The journalists were also urged not to overlook media ethics and to engage their audiences more actively through social media.

MENA Journalism Teaching & Training Need Professional Boost

Posted on November 5, 2012 by magda

Journalism education and training in the MENA region need a shot in the arm to ensure graduates and practitioners attain and maintain professional standards, students at the University of Wollongong in Dubai were told.

“Journalists are like emergency room doctors,” Media Unlimited director Magda Abu-Fadil said, addressing a joint class of postgraduate students in the Master of Media and Communications and Master of International Studies programs in October 2012.

They treat and save (news) patients, work on tight deadlines, can’t afford to make mistakes, and if they do, the results could be catastrophic, she explained.

Magda Abu-Fadil addresses master classes at University of Wollongong in Dubai

Abu-Fadil said there was often a “disconnect” between what is taught and what the journalism market needs, given the fast-changing landscape, globalized nature of the industry, and introduction of digital technologies in all facets of the profession.

On the academic front, Abu-Fadil noted the lack of up-to-date courses, newsrooms and regular student on-campus newspapers, radio and/or TV stations and websites in most Arab countries.

“The introduction of online journalism courses has been very slow,” she noted, adding that she had co-authored the UNESCO-sponsored book “Model Curricula for Journalism Education” as a template for developing countries, which is available in nine languages.

She lamented the lack of attention to the learning of languages, geography and history, notably for journalists choosing careers as foreign correspondents, and said traditional Arab curricula do not encourage critical thinking.

On another front, Abu-Fadil advised the students not to be satisfied with their degrees but to seek regular training to upgrade and update their knowledge and skills.

She underlined the importance of ethical media practices, attention to detail, inclusion of context in all stories, and, the importance of integrating multimedia and social media in their coverage.