AJMI - Islamabad

For the first time since it’s founded, Al Jazeera Media Institute, in collaboration with International University of Modern Languages, launched Al Jazeera Week in Islamabad, Pakistan. The events include delivering 3 training courses for students of journalism and some seminars, throughout the week, on journalism as a profession and its future. This event comes under activities of Media for Development Initiative of Al Jazeera Media Institute with the aim of empowering journalists, and sharing expertise of the Al Jazeera team with leaders of the profession in order to develop journalism practices and ethics.

The events start with simultaneous courses including:

TV reporter course led by trainer Osama bin Javed, senior correspondent at Al Jazeera English, Storytelling course for digital platforms by trainer Firas Ghani, first producer at Al Jazeera English website and Art of feature writing course by trainer Anaam Hussein a journalist of Journalism Magazine at Al Jazeera Institute.

Montaser Marei, Director of Media Initiatives at Al Jazeera Media Institute, said that Al Jazeera Institute has a responsibility towards colleagues of the profession to develop journalistic skills and capabilities and universities represent the most important station in establishing a generation capable of practicing the profession and at the same time has the ability to cross into digital age in recent  future.

More than 75 students participate in training courses organized by the Al Jazeera Institute over five intensive days interspersed with intensive practical exercises.

On the sidelines of the training courses, Al Jazeera Institute, in the presence and participation of Minister of Information, launched a special guide to help journalists cover Islamophobia issues. The author of the guide, Osama bin Javed, gave a presentation on the guide and its importance in light of the escalating wave of Islamophobia in the world, especially after the war on Gaza.

The events also included a panel discussion on journalism and professional ethics, especially in times of war at the university where Al Jazeera Institute and a group of journalists and academics participated. The seminar discussed the bias of Western media institutions in drawing different perceptions of the truth about the countries of the Global South in its coverage of the war on Gaza, and how Western institutions trespassed professional standards and ethics. Al Jazeera Week included visits to several universities, including Iqraa University, Women's University, Geo News Channel and Press Club which represents journalists' union in Pakistan.