Aden(South24)

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On Friday (March 14), ’South24 Center for News and Studies’, in collaboration with the Faculty of Media at Aden University and the university’s General Student Union, organized a training course on writing journalistic feature stories. This was held as part of ’South24 Center‘s‘ efforts to support and develop journalistic skills among students and young journalists in Yemen.

Training course being conducted on writing feature stories in journalism

The event was presented by journalist and trainer Abdulrahmamn Anees and was attended by Dr. Wahib Aziban, Dean of the Media Faculty at Aden University. Nearly 30 male and female students from the Faculty of Media participated in the training course along with a number of journalists. They engaged in interactive experiences about how to write journalistic feature stories in innovative and effective ways. 

Director of the Aden Office of ’South24 Center’, Jacob Al-Sufyani, said that the center always pays special attention to the Faculty of Media students at Aden University as well as the journalistic society in general. He stressed that the center would be organizing such interactive programs and activities at a regular pace. 

In a brief speech, Dr. Wahib Aziban praised the role played by South24 Center in helping build the capabilities of journalists in Aden and Yemen through holding specialized sessions and training programs. He also said that the subject of the training course – writing journalistic features - suits the needs of modern journalism as it focuses on humanization and storytelling. 

The evening training course on writing journalistic feature stories

For his part, President of the General Student Union at the University of Aden, Yahya Al-Tabaqi, described the training course as another fruit of the partnership between South24 Center and the union. He noted that the partnership enhances the training programs targeting the university students during the holy month of Ramadan. 

During the training session, the trainer highlighted the main concepts of writing journalistic features with a special focus on humanitarian stories as being the most influential and widespread form of journalism. This is due to its ability to highlight human suffering by using a moving narrative style, according to him. The session also discussed the techniques related to information gathering, building of journalistic narration, and using visual elements to deliver the message to the reader in an impactful way. 

Participants listening intently during the training course on writing journalistic feature stories

The training session saw wide interaction by participants, with open discussions about how to write journalistic feature stories in an engaging style away from direct reporting. 

The session is part of programs organized by South24 Center to bolster qualitative journalism in Yemen, especially in light of the challenges facing journalists in documenting and communicating events in a professional way that goes beyond traditional reporting to provide in-depth narratives with a humane touch.

The training course on writing journalistic feature stories

In February 2024, South24 Center signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the General Student Union at the University of Aden, for joint cooperation in the fields of journalistic training and preparation, holding media workshops and conferences, and developing the students capabilities through training programs organized by South24 Center. 

South24 Center for News and Studies is also planning to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Faculty of Media at Aden University in the coming days.