2014-05-22

 On Wednesday 21^st May 18 young journalists attended a training workshop in the field of digital media and online journalism, which was held in the Google offices in Tel Aviv.

The workshop began with a lecture by journalist Avi  Moshalem on technological developments in the world of journalism and the media, which has led to increased pressure on journalists. Media websites need to be updated immediately. He also emphasized the importance of writing in an engaging manner and the usage of pictorial media to add information, before moving on to the subject of “yellow journalism”, or sensationalism, arguing that that this type of journalism is not necessarily bad journalism. He stated that today’s emphasis on pictures and images do not automatically render an article sensationalist and also discussed “yellow journalism” in the British media.

The second talk, given by news photographer Yorai Lieberman, was on photojournalism and discussed the threat to his profession due to the evolution of new media and the emergence of citizen journalism. He stated that professional photographers are better equipped to read and analyse the events occurring in front of them, as well of giving examples of how photos may be distorted through modern editing techniques such as Photoshop.

The third lecture was given by a lawyer, Liran Ram, who spoke about various journalists and their different styles of working.

The fourth speech was given by Eran Tiefenbrunn, editor of "YNET" and dealt with the future of news sites, discussing how although digital media continues to gain popularity, this will not lead to a decline to print media as consumers want the news in many different formats. He briefed the students on the usage of the programme ‘Chart House’ (chartbeat.com) which tracks the number of users on the YNET website at all times and allows the editor to change the content to reflect what is most popular amongst the readers. He also discussed how the Arabic version of YNET had been closed down due to poor economic performance, but said that if there is a demand for it again in the future he would relaunch the site.

The final talk was given by Roy Katz, Lecturer in Media at the School of Herzliya, who discussed the place of Arab journalists in the media.  He said that while it may be difficult to integrate Arab journalists in the traditional Israeli media, the rise of digital media has changed this and made it easier for Arab journalists. He also said journalists have to work with digital media and other technological advances in order to maintain the nobility of their profession.