LONDON/ABU DHABI (15 May 2013)—The Thomson Reuters Foundation and twofour54 Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s centre of excellence for the development of Arabic media and entertainment content, have concluded an exclusive and successful five-year journalism training partnership aimed at promoting the highest journalism standards throughout the Middle East.
Through the partnership with twofour54, the Thomson Reuters Foundation provided a variety of training courses for journalists based in the Gulf region, ranging from reporting business news to mobile journalism, an innovative training programme exploring the full integration between journalism, new media and mobile technology.
The Thomson Reuters Foundation was a founding partner in the launch of twofour54 tadreeb, a state-of-the-art media industry skills training academy— and the first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) — which offers fully bilingual courses in a world-class training environment.
Wayne Borg, President International of twofour54 said: “Our 11 international training partnerships, including our partnerships with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, have helped us to set international standards for tailor-made professional training across the media industry in the region. In less than five years, we have conducted over 600 courses and trained 6,600+ students from 27 countries, in all media disciplines from animation to production. These numbers meet the growing demand for the skilled media and creative talent the UAE and the region needs to support a world class media industry. The fact that we are seeing twofour54 trained talent securing jobs at some of the 200+ local, regional and international media companies based at twofour54’s campus in Abu Dhabi is a clear indication of twofour54 tadreeb’s success.”
“Our partnership with twofour54 has been a great springboard to support high quality journalism in the Arab world,” said Jo Weir, Director of the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s media and journalism training programme. “The partnership allowed us to develop a group of Arabic-speaking trainers who can now deliver high quality courses across the region. Commitment to media development in the area remains a core objective of the Thomson Reuters Foundation.”
If you are a media organisation or business based in the Gulf region and interested in journalism and media training courses, please contact the Thomson Reuters Foundation at trustmedia@thomsonreuters.com.
About the Thomson Reuters Foundation
The Thomson Reuters Foundation leverages the skills, values and expertise of Thomson Reuters to run programmes that trigger change and empower people across the world: free legal assistance, media development, and in-depth coverage of the world’s under-reported stories. The Foundation stands for human rights, women’s empowerment, anti-corruption and for the rule of law.
About twofour54 Abu Dhabi
twofour54, the commercial arm of the Media Zone Authority-Abu Dhabi, is one of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s leading media and entertainment hubs. As part of its mission, twofour54 is driving the development of the creative industries in the region, supporting talent and content development initiatives, creativity and young entrepreneurs.
Its initiatives are contributing to the growth and diversity of the Abu Dhabi economy and its campus is home to over 200 local, regional and international companies, including Ubisoft, Cartoon Network, Sky News Arabia, CNN, Flash Entertainment, Sport 360, Reed Exhibitions, Charisma, Tahadi and Jawaker.
twofour54 provides a range of services including: training across all media sectors; business development and funding support to UAE nationals and other Arabs with great ideas; a creativity lab that allows members to get involved in creative projects; and it facilitates world-class content through its production and post-production facilities. These services are supported by tawasol, facilitating easy business set-up and providing ongoing support services.
twofour54 powers the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, Abu Dhabi Media Summit and TROFPEST Arabia each year to drive the development of a vibrant film and entertainment industry.
About the Media Zone Authority-Abu Dhabi
The Media Zone Authority-Abu Dhabi was established in 2007 with a mandate to support and sustain the development of Arab-focused media and digital creative businesses, positioning Abu Dhabi as a regional centre of excellence across all media platforms.
To achieve this, the Media Zone Authority-Abu Dhabi is creating and sustaining a media and digital creative hub in Abu Dhabi, with clear strategies and initiatives to develop UAE nationals into media industry professionals. It encourages foreign direct investment through 100% non-UAE business ownership, has a world class entrepreneurially friendly company regulatory structure creating private sector jobs, and drives the development of the region’s media and entertainment industry through its clear content regulatory environment which is unique in the region.
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