UAE Media Council, Google News Initiative Collaborate To Launch 'Media Leadership Training Program'

UAE Media Council and Google held the first phase of "Media Leadership Training Program" at Google's regional headquarters in Dubai Media City on Wednesday.

The event was organized in collaboration with the Google News Initiative and Upskill Digital and featured more than 50 media leaders, journalists, and content creators from various media houses and digital platforms.

Mohammad Saeed Al Shehhi, Secretary-General of the UAE Media Council, emphasized the importance of investing in media cadres in order to develop the sector's capabilities to ensure rapid growth on a global level.

"We are honored to collaborate with Google in organizing 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 organizations and advance their capability to compete globally," Al Shehhi was quoted as saying by WAM.

He further said that this event was just the first step toward the UAE Media Council's partnership with Google, noting that there will be a series of workshops based on generative AI in the newsrooms, video production for content creators, and other new digital skills to improve productivity and efficiency.

Speaking at the event, Mazen Sabbagh, News Partnerships Lead Middle East and North Africa, shared his excitement to hold the Business Training for Digital Transformation training for the UAE news publishers in collaboration with the UAE Media Council.

"Google has long been supporting journalists, news publishers and news startups in the region through dedicated training programs and funding. We are committed to doing more to support the digital transformation and innovation of the local news industry," Sabbagh added.

Google News Initiative and Upskill Digital experts, who were present during the workshop, discussed various topics, including how media can reach out to a specific audience, measuring impact, growing news audience with YouTube, growing ad revenue, best practices to grow newsletters, and getting started with GA4.

Earlier this month, Sabah Allal, President of the Arab Union of Tourist Media, announced that Dubai will host the Arab Tourism Media Awards for the year 2024 on the sidelines of the Arabian Travel Market at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.