Together with Birzeit University’s Media Development Center,  I’lam held the final part of an intense training course on Internet journalism and social networks on Wednesday, October 9, attended by 22 Arab journalists who work at various online news agencies within the state of Israel.

 

 The course was taught by Ma’moun Matar, an engineer with expertise in media technology and new media, and focused on the time period following the most recent Internet revolution, which transformed electronic journalism into digital journalism, also called mass media.

 

 Diverse topics were covered such as online publishing, digital journalism tools and the forms of digital storytelling, the principles and basic methods of writing and editing Internet news, conducting interviews, the rules on sources and using quotations, sources of electronic information, publishing rights, and online journalism ethics. The course ended with a presentation on the role and tools of social media.

 

Saleh Musharqa, an editor at the daily paper Al-Hayat al-Jadida (The New Life), gave a lecture on the methods of online writing and editing.

 

 Besides the training course, I’lam organized a gathering for the participating journalists and media students from Birzeit University to meet each other. Dr. Bassam Ewaida, professor of political science and head of the information department, and Prof. Amal Jamal, the General Director of I’lam Media Center in Nazareth, also attended.

 

They stressed the need for connecting Palestinians across local borders, from Gaza to the State of Israel to the West Bank, as the Israeli establishment tries to separate these sectors of Palestinian society. They also emphasized that Palestinians should build bonds at the professional level, which become stronger with ongoing activities such as this course. On that note, Emad Al-Asfar, the Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator at the Media Development Center, said that Birzeit University and I’lam should collaborate more often and more intensely by working together on the Media Development Center’s monthly newspaper, Al Hal.

 

As the training course finished, the participants received certificates of completion.