AJMI – Doha

“How can we tell human stories as their owners live them, rather than as we see them?” This question lay at the heart of the Digital Human Storytelling course organized by Al Jazeera Media Institute for Islamic Relief Organization, bringing together twenty participants from different nationalities in an intensive training programme.

The course was delivered by trainer Firas Ghani over five days, exploring the concept of human-centered storytelling, the principles of crafting compelling narratives, and effective techniques for interviewing survivors of wars and grave human rights violations. The programme also highlighted professional and ethical distinctions between interviewing survivors and interviewing victims.

Ghani further addressed challenge of balancing between pursuit of breaking news and respect for human dignity, awareness-driven reporting approaches, methods for verifying personal stories, complexities of presenting “other opinion” in human-interest reporting, and the impact of word choice on shaping media messages. He also shared practical guidance drawn from extensive field experience. In addition to that, the course featured hands-on exercises and group discussions based on realistic scenarios, enabling participants to apply concepts they had learned in situations closely resembling real professional environments.

Participants praised the programme for its highly interactive and practical nature, noting that the extended experience of the trainer enriched discussions through real-life examples. Participant Al Hassan Hani commented: “I particularly appreciate practical sessions and discussions on interviews, angles, and shot selection.”

As part of the programme, participants also visited Aljazeera English, Digital Division of Aljazeera Media Network, and Studio 14. They described these visits as an invaluable practical extension of training experience that enriched learning environment and maximizing impact of the training programme.

This course forms part of Al Jazeera Media Institute’s ongoing efforts to develop capabilities of professionals working in media and humanitarian communication through training programmes that bring together professional expertise with hands-on practice. Thus, contributing to producing more responsible and impactful media content.