Thomson Foundation trainer Deborah Kelly has just returned to the UK from Qatar where she has completed two training courses at the Al Jazeera Training Centre working with journalists and producers from across the Arab world.
News Bulletin Production Course 3 February to 7 February 2013
Eleven journalists, many from the Al Jazeera Arabic Channel, joined Deborah and translator Assad for the five-day course on news-bulletin production. Many of the journalists had some experience in producing television news bulletins and wanted to improve their story selection and running-order construction, but for others it was their first opportunity to produce their own news bulletins.
It also provided an opportunity for the local journalists to view bulletins produced on the worlds numerous news channels and compare how they select their own running orders and the techniques and formats they employ. With an increasing number of channels producing news programming in Arabic, the journalists were anxious to ensure they were writing to high standards and in an informative and compelling form.
New challenges During the course, the students looked at long form and short form bulletins. They explored the use of graphics and the importance of effective strap and ticker writing.
With the expansion of existing news channels and the creation of new ones, many of the journalists said they are being challenged to be more creative in the production of their news bulletins but at the same time want to maintain high ethical standards in their journalism. These challenges prompted a great deal of informed and interesting debate during the five-day course.
Planning and television production course 10 February to 20 February 2013
Youve a great idea for a new television programme, an issue that cries out to be made into a documentary, or need to plan material for a new magazine programme; How do you make sure everything goes smoothly from planning to production?
This was the challenge that the 11 students taking part in the planning and television production course run by Thomson Foundation trainer Deborah Kelly tackled during a recent ten day course at the Al Jazeera Training Centre in Doha, Qatar.
The students representing a variety of television channels from across the Arabic world examined television programming from planning, to pitching, production and critical review. Discussions took place around programmes as diverse as the BBCs latest format success, The Great British Bake Off, Indian Televisions talk show, Satyamev Jayate, and Al Jazeeras highly successful chat show, The Opposite Direction.
Tough critics Senior members of staff at Al Jazeera, including commissioning editor, Rawan Al Damen, and talk show producer, Montaser Marai, talked about their experiences in programme production. The toughest critics for the students were their fellow class members who they had to impress when pitching their ideas for programmes.
The course culminated in the production of a half hour chat show with audience participation and use of social media. The students worked in two production teams and shared the production and presentation roles.
One team chose to explore aspects of the conflict in Syria whilst the second looked at the growing issue of obesity and how sport is being promoted to tackle the increasingly sedentary lifestyle of children. Both teams invited guests to contribute, but the team producing the sport based show had the added benefit of being able to use the course translator Assad who, when he is not working at the training centre, is the senior translator for the Al Jazeera Sport Channel.
New opportunities The broadcast industry in the Middle East has been flourishing and expanding at a fast rate since the "Arab Spring" with many more opportunities opening up for journalists and producers.
"It was a great to be with such enthusiastic and talented people," said trainer, Deborah Kelly. "I am certain their skills and new understanding of the medium will translate into producing innovative and informative television productions."
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
26/03/2026
Extron and Audio-Technica have announced that their Design Solutions devices, Ce...
26/03/2026
SPORTEL Asia took place March 24-25 at the Orchard Hotel Singapore, drawing 370 participants representing more than 220 companies from 35 countries. Approximate...
26/03/2026
LTN will demonstrate satellite-to-IP migration solutions for broadcasters, cable networks, MVPDs, and station groups at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2100).
The C-Ban...
26/03/2026
The Seattle Mariners have partnered with Daktronics to install an upgraded outfi...
26/03/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) has awarded National Team Partner status to organizations and individuals across more than 100 countries and territories for the Esp...
26/03/2026
Telestream has announced expanded integration between its Vantage workflow platf...
26/03/2026
FOR-A Corporation has announced a partnership with Nippon TV and NVIDIA to distr...
26/03/2026
CBS Sports and the WNBA have expanded their partnership through a new long-term, multiplatform rights agreement. CBS Sports will feature up to 20 regular-season...
26/03/2026
Zac Brown Band will star in the Sunday Night Baseball show open on NBC and Peacock, NBC Sports announced. The open was filmed at American Family Field, home of ...
26/03/2026
Major League Baseball opens the 2026 season with nationally televised games across multiple media partners. Fans can visit MLB.com/Watch for a complete schedule...
26/03/2026
DIRECTV has announced an agreement to carry nine new MLB-operated team channels, covering the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers (Detroit SportsNet), Kansas City R...
26/03/2026
Nationals.TV, the Washington Nationals' local broadcast channel, is now avai...
26/03/2026
Starting Thursday, March 26, MLB.TV will be available on the ESPN App, giving fans access to more than 2,000 out-of-market regular season games. Fans can also r...
26/03/2026
Spotify's partnership with NAVER, Korea's leading digital platform, is built around one simple goal: making it easier for listeners in Korea to discover...
26/03/2026
Exclusive to ComposerCloud for first month
Sample library and virtual instrument gurus EastWest have announced the upcoming release of a new virtual drum i...
26/03/2026
Friday 27 March
Friday 27 March will mark Dynamic Range Day 2026, the annual day of online activity that was started in 2010 by mastering engineer Ian Sheph...
26/03/2026
Includes four separate instruments
Max Richter's SRM Sounds venture have just announced their fifth release, ASMR Choir. Captured at the main live room ...
26/03/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), has been tasked with administering the Sixth Presi...
26/03/2026
By Matt Klein
Hello to everyone reading this - whether you're a current YEP, HPA member, or just YEP-curious. I'm Matt Klein, one of the co-chairs of t...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
28 participating companies, from start-ups to blue-chips, lead the UK Group as part of the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland presence across all the Halls at N...
26/03/2026
Arkona Unveils BLADE//planner and Major Usability Enhancements at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
New graphical configuration tool and...
26/03/2026
Bitfocus showcases complete control at NAB Show 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
Continuing development drives advances in security, availa...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Nevion introduces powerful new Panel Builder to enhance VideoIPath broadcast con...
26/03/2026
2026 Oscar Nominated Films Powered by Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton March 25, 2026
0 Comments
DaVinci Resolve Studio used on 27 of this year's no...
26/03/2026
Leader to present full suite of advanced Test & Measurement solutions at NAB Sho...
26/03/2026
Boston Conservatory to Present New England and Collegiate Premiere of Groundbrea...
26/03/2026
Thursday 26 March 2026
HBO Max included for Sky and NOW customers from 26 March...
26/03/2026
Thursday 26 March 2026
Sky Sets Iconic Costumes Dancing Together Like Never Before' in Brand CampaignTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy o...
26/03/2026
Wuppertal March 26, 2026
CS live Builds Future-Ready OB Van With Riedel MediorNet and hi Control SystemRiedel Communications today announced that Czech-based ...
26/03/2026
Back to All News
Have a Wish Worth Dying For? Netflix's First Korean YA Hor...
26/03/2026
Back to All News
The Truthers, Starring Jose Coronado and St phanie Magnin, Pre...
26/03/2026
Enhancements to Harmonic's Sports Streaming Solution Introduce Server-Side Multiview, Contextual Metadata-Driven Advertising, Dynamic In-Stream Ads and Robu...
26/03/2026
Open the report
Our 2025 report brings together results from 79 business magazine titles across 22 market sectors, published by 49 media owners. Over the year,...
26/03/2026
Editor's note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on ...
26/03/2026
RT Commercial today announced Fiat as sponsor of The Louise Duffy Show on RT Radio 1, Weekdays 3pm 4pm.
The Louise Duffy Show is the home of daytime music...
26/03/2026
That gaming backlog won't clear itself - GeForce NOW is here to help. Stream the latest titles straight from the cloud across a variety of devices.
This we...
26/03/2026
Wayne, N.J., March 26, 2026 Phantom High-Speed announces the latest product li...
Thomson Foundation trainer Deborah Kelly has just returned to the UK from Qatar where she has completed two training courses at the Al Jazeera Training Centre working with journalists and producers from across the Arab world.
