Al Jazeera & Thomson Foundation: An Enduring Union of Skills and Experience
Al Jazeera & Thomson Foundation: An Enduring Union of Skills and Experience Dr. Nigel Baker | Chief Executive, Thomson Foundation, London
Al Jazeera and the Thomson Foundation were natural partners when it came to establishing a media training and development centre in Qatar. Al Jazeera was already a mould-breaking broadcaster which had transformed television news in the Arabic-speaking world. Thomson Foundation was unique in having a 40-year track record of providing broadcasting and journalism training across the globe. In April 2002 – nearly two years before the “Al Jazeera Media Training Centre” was launched – a discussion document by the two organisations described the partnership as “a practical union of skills and experience.” Al Jazeera’s ambition for the training centre to help other broadcasters in the Arabic-speaking world was also in line with the Thomson Foundation’s ethic of pursuing excellence in all aspects of broadcast production while understanding values appropriate to the local audience and culture - not seeking to impose “the Western way of doing things.” By April 2003, the two organisations had signed a memorandum of understanding to work together to develop a “distinguished training centre for the Arab world and neighbour regions.”
The Thomson Foundation was committed to exchanging “expertise, information, know-how and other elements for achieving the goals of the centre.” The foundation’s financial and political independence allowed it to call on the best practitioners in their fields, wherever they were and whomever they worked for, to contribute to Al Jazeera courses. Such has been the strength of the relationship that it still endures 17 years after the training centre’s formal launch in 2004. A key part of the foundation’s methodology is that those whom it trains should “learn by doing” – using their new skills during the training course so their work can be assessed, while receiving instant feedback to improve knowledge and confidence. The technique was put to an immediate test as soon as the training centre commenced operations. One of the first courses that the foundation provided for the training centre was an ambitious, four-week programme for nearly 30 staff from Sudan state television. A cohort of 17 early-career journalists received a thorough grounding in television reporting and production skills; at the same time, 11 camera operators and picture editors improved their techniques using the latest digital, non-linear technology. By the end of the course, they were
working together in teams to demonstrate their new skills by producing a full-length television news magazine programme with content which the lead trainer described as “journalistically exceptional.” By contrast, the next course was a six-week programme in Qatar for newcomers to the industry who were given a thorough grounding in all aspects of producing and filming a television story. The aim was to inspire participants as well as giving them a balance of theory and practice. In the words of the lead trainer, the idea was not just to “fill the pot” (of their knowledge) but to “light the fire.” Thomson Foundation’s provision of experienced practitioners and trainers of high calibre for Al Jazeera courses has played an important part in “lighting the fire” for hundreds of journalists. A good role model is a crucial motivator for newcomers to the profession, or those working in newsrooms where levels of experience and skill are limited. From those early days, the relationship between the training centre and the Thomson Foundation has evolved and flourished. In recent years, the foundation has provided around 20 workshops a year – not just for beneficiaries of Al Jazeera’s corporate social responsibility programmes but also for Al Jazeera staff in locations as diverse as
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