Press Releases BBC Arabic launches interactive media workshops

Category: World Service
Date: 08.11.2007
Printable version

• The World As You See It talks to future broadcasting talent in the Arab world

BBC Arabic has announced that it will host a series of interactive workshops called The World As You See It for aspiring broadcasters across the Arab world.

The workshops are announced as the BBC prepares to launch its integrated Arabic-language multimedia offering, a first for the region incorporating radio, TV and online.

Aimed at developing talented future broadcasters in the Arab world, The World As You See It workshops will be held at universities in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Egypt and Morocco (see below for full details).

Experienced BBC journalists will share their knowledge and experience with media students, encouraging them to complete short video packages of stories they believe will be of wide interest. The best work will be featured on the BBC.

Hosam El Sokkari, Head of BBC Arabic, said: "The BBC wants to support and develop talent in the region and these workshops will be a first step in building relationships with the multimedia broadcasters of the future.

"I have no doubt that audiences to BBC Arabic in the years ahead will be enjoying some of the talent that emerges from The World As You See It. The initiative will also give us the opportunity to see a different young perspective on today's world."

The tutorials with BBC journalists will encourage individuals or teams to create video footage using on-campus facilities and guidance from their tutors. The BBC will provide additional support via online Q&As and downloadable tutorials.

All submissions will be evaluated by BBC journalists. All The World As You See It submissions will be in Arabic and a maximum of three minutes long. Full credit will be given to students and their university.

Students at participating universities register for the tutorials online at bbcarabic.com.

The locations and universities are as follows:

• United Arab Emirates
  United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain
  Sharjah University, Sharjah
  
  
• Saudi Arabia
  King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah
  
  
• Palestine
  Birzeit University, West Bank Palestine
  
  
• Egypt
  American University in Cairo, Cairo
  Al Ahram Canadian University, Cairo
  Cairo University, Cairo
  
  
• Morocco
  Mohammed V University, Rabat
  Université Hassan II, Mohammedia, Casablanca

Notes to Editors

BBC Arabic is both the largest and the oldest of the BBC's language services. Launched in 1938, it has evolved into the Arab world's leading international broadcaster. It covers the political, social and cultural issues that matter to its diverse audiences in the Arab world and across the globe.

BBC Arabic draws upon the BBC's unmatched newsgathering resources across the world not only to report from the region but also to ensure that the international perspective is brought to listeners in the Arab world.

BBC Arabic currently reaches 13.2 million people on radio every week while the bbcarabic.com website currently receives over 21 million page impressions each month.

World Service Publicity