Blogging from Amandla Forum: Day 1

The workshop on press and media development given by Abdelhamid Siyam (Abdelhamid Abdeljaber), a lecturer at Rutgers University and radio and TV commentator, on the first day of the Amandla Forum in Jordan was really interesting and interactive.

The participants – journalists, public relations specialists and producers from different companies, countries and backgrounds – came together to discuss the media in the Arab world.

Siyam talked about his training experiences, and gave real examples showing the differences between different Arabic channels in delivering one message. He also talked about how to create an efficient method that can be both understandable and has an impact on the audience. Also, he explained about the importance of the official spokesmen, who act as the link between the media and the institution, company, governmental or nongovernmental organization.

We also discussed ‘the mission statement’, which is basically the target that every journalist needs to have, be it an investigation, tragic story or scoop that he or she is looking for. Siyam stressed the importance of the 5 Fs (being frank, fast, factual, fair and friendly) in shaping the journalist's work.

At the end of the workshop, we distributed copies of Hibr to all the participants and Siyam promised to come visit us in our office in Beirut.