One of the four Ohio University faculty members who will instruct a series of media workshops in Qatar leaves today for the Middle East.
The Scripps College of Communication faculty members make the trip through the newly formed training partnership between the college and Al-Jazeera, a media network in the Middle East.
The first workshop is interviewing techniques instructed by Tim Sharp, director of news at WOUB Radio and TV, and will begin Sunday, said David Mould, associate dean for the college.
The partnership links the Scripps College of Communication with Al-Jazeera's Media Training and Development Center in Doha, Qatar, and was signed Sept. 11, by OU President Roderick McDavis and Waddah Khanfar, general manager for Al-Jazeera, said Steve Howard, director of African studies, who initiated the partnership with the director of the center.
They are impressed with the way American journalism operates
he said.
The workshops ' including writing for the picture for TV journalism, media management, interviewing techniques and investigative journalism ' will last at least one week, Mould said. The programs will cost the center about $4,000 to $5,000 for a weeklong workshop, including about $400 a day for the instructors.
Depending on the success of the workshops and ideas generated by OU faculty, the partnership could be expanded, Howard said. It's an open kind of partnership.
Few universities in the region offer media courses, and those that do take a mainly theoretical approach, he said, but the Al-Jazeera media center emphasizes practical training.
The center has an excellent training facility, including TV and radio studios, and many of the media professionals at Al-Jazeera have a large area of expertise, Sharp said.
Al-Jazeera was insistent that OU send faculty with practical media experience, Mould said.
Before the Al-Jazeera network originated in 1996, media in the region was restricted to government coverage, but Al-Jazeera opened the scope of public discourse, Mould said.
Al-Jazeera has been as bold in taking on controversial stories, and they frequently interview people with an opposing viewpoint, Sharp said, adding that they could probably teach American journalists about interviewing angry sources or people with opposing opinions.
American educational methods are admired in the region because they are open and participatory, Mould said. The partnership will bring the best practices of American journalism, such as investigative and visually interesting broadcast stories, to the region, he said.
There's a journalistic tradition here under which there is more inquiry Mould said. There's a difference to me between journalism and coverage.
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