|
|
|
ARAB WOMEN IN MEDIA CENTER ACTIVITIES |
|
|
|
ARAB WOMEN IN MEDIA - REGIONAL MEDIA CONFERENCES
|
|
UNICEF Announces Winners of 2012 Middle
East Media Award on Child Rights .
Sunday, 16 December 2012 07:56
By AWMWC
AMMAN, 16 December 2012- UNICEF Regional Office for the Middle
East and North Africa today announced the winners of the 5th UNICEF
Regional Media Award on Child Rights for 2012. Awarded annually, the
Media Award recognizes excellence in reporting in the Arab media on the
situation and issues of children in the Middle-East and North Africa.
Over the past five years the Award has focused on issues such as
children’s rights, health and education.
To view on line please click here |
|
Human Rights towards Gender
Equality (271b MENA)
The Program seeks to increase successful practicing of gender
mainstreaming and, as a consequence, increase Gender equality and
implementation of women’s human rights in all participating
organizations. This version of the program is aimed at participants from
the MENA-region.
To make the Program useful and exciting the joint-venture of SIPU
International and Uppsala University will combine international, Swedish
and regional perspective, including analyzing best practices and
failures of all participating countries. Capacity building activities,
like Team-building and networking weekend will create a powerful network
of women’s rights supporters. Informal meetings with public figures or
Human Rights organizations and/or Immigrant associations in Sweden will
present participants with colorful picture of Swedish and European
reality.
To apply for - please click
here
- closing date for applications is Mar 31-2011
Find the correct application address and
procedure in the brochure – please
click over
here to view the brochure on line.
Those like to part in from Jordan please either download application
from the site or just pay a visit to our place in Amman - Al Abdali - Al
ELLAMIAT AL ARABIATT Street - our contact and address please click
here
Dead line to apply is Mar 31 - 2011 |
|
AWMC Director Journalist
Mahasen Al emam addressing the conference - Tehran - IRan
Early 2009, MRS. Al emam
Mahasen -AWMC Director invited by HAMI institute - Tehran - Iran to part
in Moslem women conference sub: how media support non violence during
war and crises. |
ICFJ and Poynter
to launch News University International
Worldwide initiative will start with interactive,
e-learning
courses for Iranian journalists
The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and The
Poynter Institute have announced a partnership to create
a multilingual News University International.
The initiative will customize Poynter's News University
e-learning courses so that they are culturally and
professionally relevant for international users. The
first modules will be produced in Persian.
The partnership builds on NewsU's unparalleled
online-learning expertise and ICFJ's global reach and
vast experience in training journalists around the
world. NewsU offers more than 65 self-directed,
interactive courses for journalists, bloggers and
journalism students, on topics ranging from multimedia
storytelling to ethical decision-making. ICFJ has worked
with 55,000 journalists in 176 countries around the
world.
The first five courses will be designed for Iranian
journalists and focus on building multimedia skills.
ICFJ and Poynter will work with a variety of local
partners and together seek funding for additional
courses, in languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Spanish
and Russian.
Given the demand for better journalism education in
developing nations, this initiative has the potential to
reach a wide range of journalists, journalism students
and anyone interested in journalism-based skills, such
as writing, editing and multimedia. Courses can also
supplement on-the-ground media training as well as
enhance the skills and standards of citizen journalists
and bloggers.
"Poynter and ICFJ each bring unique contributions to the
table in this enterprise," said Karen Brown Dunlap,
president of The Poynter Institute. Adds NewsU Director
Howard Finberg: "Our combined strengths will come
together to create an incredible resource for
international journalists of every type."
"NewsU International has the potential to reach
journalists whether they're in Tehran or Tijuana," says
ICFJ President Joyce Barnathan. "We can successfully use
digital technology to offer quality journalism courses
practically anywhere in the world."
The International Center
for Journalists, a non-profit, professional
organization, promotes quality journalism worldwide in
the belief that independent, vigorous media are crucial
in improving the human condition. Now celebrating its
25th anniversary, ICFJ has worked directly with more
than 55,000 journalists from 176 countries. Aiming to
raise the standards of journalism, ICFJ offers hands-on
training, workshops, online training, seminars,
fellowships and international exchanges to reporters and
media managers around the globe. For more, visit
www.icfj.org.
ICFJ also runs the International Journalists'
Network (IJNet), the world's premier resource
for the media assistance community. IJNet, available in
six languages, aims to help connect journalists with the
opportunities and information they need to better
themselves and raise journalism standards in their
countries. To learn more, visit
www.ijnet.org.
The Poynter Institute is dedicated to
teaching and inspiring journalists and media leaders. It
promotes excellence and integrity in the practice of the
craft and in the practical leadership of successful
businesses. It stands for a journalism that informs
citizens and enlightens public discourse. It carries
forward Nelson Poynter's belief in the value of
independent journalism. For more, visit
www.poynter.org.
Begun in 2005 with generous support from the John S. and
James L. Knight Foundation, Poynter's News
University currently has more than 111,000
registered users, including 15 percent from outside the
United States. It is committed to providing interactive,
inexpensive courses that appeal to journalists at all
levels of experience and in all types of media. For
more, visit
www.newsu.org.
|
Jordanian Woman Journalist Receives
International Press Award
Mahassen Al-Emam is the first Arab journalist to be recognized
By Ghada
Elnajjar Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- Mahassen Al-Emam, journalist and Founder of the Arab Women Media Center (AWMC) in
Jordan received the Knight International Press Fellowship Award in Washington
on October 8. The Award honors individuals who demonstrate journalistic
integrity and independence under difficult circumstances, and who have made
remarkable contributions to the media in their region.
Al-Emam received her award at the 5th Annual Excellence in Journalism Dinner,
organized by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), which was held
in Washington, DC. The ICFJ works with journalists from around the world to
build a strong, independent press that keeps government honest, holds
authority accountable, makes business transparent, and provides news that is
accurate.
In an interview with the Washington File on October 8, Al-Emam, who is the
first Arab journalist to receive this award, said that it is a great honor
for her to be recognized. "I was very happy that this honor was bestowed
upon me by an international entity, and that I am recognized outside my
country," she said.
A pioneer in her field, Al-Emam became the first female editor-in-chief in
1994 of Al-Bilad, a weekly Jordanian newspaper. As a member of the Jordanian
Press Association since 1979, she also had served as the first elected female
member of the association's High Committee.
"This is an accomplishment that I am very proud of," said Al-Emam,
who tries to use her position to open doors to other female journalists.
"Through the press association, I established a women's committee for
the purpose of supporting women journalists in Jordan to be more effective in
the media and to also be in continuous contact with women journalists
throughout the Arab world," she said.
Al-Emam said that during the 27 years she worked in the Jordanian press, she
tried to push the press to change from a commercial identity to a more
political one.
"Through Al-Bilad, I tried to change the tradition of the Jordanian
press, to have a more political identity, and to adopt a specific political
agenda, either with or against. However I felt that commercialization was what
really characterized the weekly publications," said Al-Emam.
As the first woman editor-in-chief, Al-Emam faced many other difficulties.
She explained that some of her male colleagues refused to accept that a woman
journalist was in charge.
"One way I tackled this, I used my skills as a mother, and tried to
convince them that we are a part of one family in the newspaper. I made the
effort to be their friend first and their boss second. This took a lot of
time, until they trusted me and felt that I was their friend. Only then did
they become more productive and more motivated," she said.
Unable to establish a political identity for the paper, and failing to
institutionalize a permanent women's committee in the Jordanian Press
Association, Al-Emam resigned from Al-Bilad and later from the press
association.
In 1999, she established the AWMC to support female journalists. The Center
serves as a training facility to women journalists, finds employment
opportunities for them, and recruits members who cannot join the Jordanian
Press Association. The membership of the AWMC, which reached 200, is not
limited to print journalism, as is the case for the press association, but it
also includes radio and television.
The Center also researches issues that pertain to women in general, such as
human rights, women's rights and countering discrimination against women in
the Arab world, while the member journalists focus on these issues in their
work.
"The Center's accomplishments in this area are many," said Al-Emam.
"We were able to change the thinking of many in regards to women. I am
still working with volunteer legal advisers on changing some of Jordan's laws
that are biased against women in the areas of retirement, salaries, and
positions," she said.
The Center also serves as a "refuge" to women journalists, said
Al-Emam. It houses three legal advisers who work on issues and problems
facing women journalists, another service that the press association does not
offer. "The fear factor is no longer there. The Center serves as a
protective umbrella with attorneys ready to defend," she explained.
Viewed as a competitor, Al-Emam and the AWMC were faced with hostility from
the beginning. "In Jordan, I paid the price as a result of this center.
Many opposed it. It was a new idea. It made the Jordanian Press Association
realize its incompetence and its inability to offer the proper services and
training for women journalists," she said.
Al-Emam even established her own weekly newspaper with an opposition agenda.
She explained, "we opposed war and we opposed the practices of many
ministers and officials." The paper, which did not attract advertising
revenue, was distributed for free "so that people can read," she
said. Al-Emam said that her project was a total financial loss, but that it
accomplished its goal of reaching a wide audience.
"I used all my savings to start this paper, and of course I did not
receive a single advertisement because it was an opposition paper.
Regardless, we had excellent circulation," she said.
"The purpose of my paper was not to make profit, but to spread
thought," she added. "I helped create an opposition movement
although it was at a very small scale. This led to the demise of the paper
when the government shut it down."
Asked if female journalists today face the same problems she faced 20 years
ago, Al-Emam said that, "although the times are different and the
problems are different, a single important problem remains, and that is the
lack of freedom and democracy; the inability to do and write about anything
you want."
A related problem, she pointed out, is limited assignments for women
journalists whose story coverage is limited to specified areas. For example,
she explained, "women are not sent to cover wars."
Al-Emam also extended her criticism to Arab satellite television. According
to Al-Emam, "they capitalize on women -- on their physical appearance,
which is unacceptable. It humiliates women in exchange for token fees."
Al-Emam expressed the wish that women would be accorded more respect in Arab
satellite television. But, she said, "One needs to look at some of the
stations to see that it is only getting worse."
She said the content of Arab satellite television is not "what we aspire
to." She said that the programs consist of commercial and vulgar shows
that humiliate women and that are repetitive and unimaginative.
Al-Emam currently writes only for Paris or London-based Arab publications,
because she says they give her the opportunity to express her views more
freely.
"I am more comfortable writing for expatriate publications. Arab
publications in the Diaspora are increasing because there is a lack of
freedom in the Arab world. Arab journalists try to find leeway of freedom
outside their countries. Arab governments should allow media to be produced
inside and not outside the Arab world, to prevent the increase of more
expatriates," Al-Emam said.
Al-Emam said that through her writing and work at the AWMC, she will continue
to spread her ideas and bring together Arab women in the media and exposure
to their issues of concern.
On October 24, the AWMC will hold its second annual conference for women in
the Arab media. "This is the most significant accomplishment for the
AWMC; that it continues to serve as a gathering center for the region's women
in the media to exchange their views, discuss their problems and find
solutions together."
"The Knight International Press Fellowship Award grants me more
exposure, but my goals will be achieved through continuous work in the
Center," concluded Al-Emam.
|
|
Journalist
Training Course Closing Address
HE
Eng.Nidal
al-hadid , Mayor of Amman , attended a graduation ceremoney
for a number of media professionals, this Thursday,the27th of March.the
Arab woman media center in collaboration with arab internews network ,
organized a one week basic media skills training prgramme, for a number
of media professionals from jordan, saudi arabia , and palestine .
participants from the occupied territories , unfortunately, could not
attend the training , because the israeli authorities prevented them
from doing so.
The
training introdused anumber of important topics for arab professionals
in the held media a number of prominent figures gave lectures, in topics
that varied from the art of communicating with the masses to the media
ethics.
The
arab woman media center, which is a research and media counseling
center, is the first local and regional NGO of its kind.
It
was established in 1999, with the support of her royal highness priness
basma, and after the continuous efforts and aspiration of ms . mahasen
al- Emam , the center continues
to give traning programmes to arab media professionals and aims towards
creating a socitey in which social equity , and intellectul freedom are
upheld.
The
center is locted in jabel al weibdeh on a street that was named after
it.
It reaches its members
, who exceed 160 from 13 arabic countries.
Please
find the press release that Internews sent out in
Washington |
|
Back to front page |
|
