AJMI - Mosul

Al Jazeera Media Institute contributed to activities of "Impact" Media Forum, hosted by Universities of Mosul and Nineveh in Mosul city- Iraq during the period from 28 to 31 May 2025, by three seminars and two training workshops presented by a selected group of its certified trainers.

Montaser Marei, director of media initiatives department at the Institute, stressed during a panel discussion at the forum the need to establish a media model that belongs to the Arab region that reflects its identity and concerns of the peoples of this region, instead of copying ready-made models from abroad. He also stressed that ethical standards in digital journalism are no longer a luxury, but it have become a professional necessity, especially in light of manipulation of information and inflation of undocumented content.

Marei also pointed out that digital documents have become an essential part of building a media narrative, which holds journalists more responsible for using these materials accurately and impartially. He added, “such forums give journalists an impetus to continue, and represent an opportunity to exchange experience and confirm that media message is still alive despite escalating challenges.

In this context, the Institute presented two seminars moderated by Montaser Marie, the first seminar discussed value of journalism in digital age, while the second reviewed experience of Al Jazeera Media Institute in media development. Meanwhile, journalist Mohammed Khamaisa, of Al-Sahafa magazine, presented a seminar on journalism ethics in digital age.

Also, Saba Al-Sharqawi, first producer of Al Jazeera 360, presented a workshop on digital story production, and pointed out that she discovered a real interest among young people to communicate their human stories outside Nineveh and Iraq, and enabled them with necessary techniques required for digital story production, adding, "We focused training on tools that help them transform these stories into influential and widespread digital content, starting by understanding how to begin the story, screenwriting, good preparation and then human narration."

On the other hand, Malek Samir presented Documentary filmmaking workshop for digital platforms, where he focused on providing trainees with necessary techniques needed to produce digital documentaries that address audience of platforms, in addition to discussing the most important skills and technical standards necessary for journalists in this field.

It is noteworthy that these workshops reflected an unprecedented interaction from the participants, including professors, students and practitioners in media sector.

Given that more than 350 media professionals, content creators and digital activists from various Iraqi governorates and a number of Arab countries participated in "Impact" forum, which focus on supporting youth media initiatives and promoting professional standards of digital media space.