UAE Media Council, Google News Initiative launch training programme for media professionals

UAE Media Council and Google concluded the first phase of the "Media Leadership Training Programme". This event took place at Google's regional headquarters in Dubai Media City, in collaboration with the Google News Initiative and Upskill Digital. Over 50 media leaders, journalists, and content creators from various media organisations and digital platforms were present. Mohammad Saeed Al Shehhi, Secretary-General of the UAE Media Council, stressed the importance of investing in the skills of media cadres and developing their capabilities to ensure that they keep pace with the rapid developments in the global media landscape. Al Shehhi said, "We are honoured to collaborate with Google in organising an extensive workshop aimed at empowering media professionals in the UAE with the latest media skills that support their careers, contribute to the development of media organisations and advance their capability to compete globally." He pointed out that this workshop represents the first step towards a long-term partnership with Google and will be followed by a series of workshops on the uses of generative AI in the newsrooms, video production for content creators and other new digital skills that support media professionals and contribute to enhancing their productivity and efficiency. Al Shehhi explained that the UAE Media Council is committed to supporting the growth of the UAE media sector and invest in developing national media cadres. It aligns with the Council's vision to enable the growth and expansion of the media industry and merge the UAE's position on the global media map. Mazen Sabbagh, News Partnerships Lead Middle East and North Africa, said, "We're excited to hold the Business Training for Digital Transformation training to news publishers in the UAE in collaboration with the UAE Media Council. Google has long been supporting journalists, news publishers and news startups in the region through dedicated training programmes and funding. We are committed to doing more to support the digital transformation and innovation of the local news industry." The workshop, which was presented by experts from the Google News Initiative and Upskill Digital, shed light on a number of important topics, such as how the media can reach the targeted audience, measuring impact, grow news audience with YouTube, grow ad revenue, best practices to grow newsletters & getting started with GA4, in addition to methods to develop editing and publishing skills in the digital world using various technologies and tools.