The Journalism and Media Department in the Faculty of Arts at the Islamic University held a seminar entitled “Professional Experience in Writing for Websites,” during which it hosted Ms. Tamam Mohsen, a freelance journalist and writer and head of mobilization and advocacy campaigns at Al Mezan Center for Human Rights. The seminar was held in the presence of Dr. Wael Al-Manama, head of the Journalism and Media Department, Dr. Mayada Muhanna, a faculty member, and a group of students.
Dr. Al-Manama welcomed the guest and the attendees, stressing the importance of holding extracurricular activities in developing students’ skills and abilities through hosting experienced people in various media fields and introducing them to professional and practical reality.
Dr. Muhanna introduced Ms. Mohsen, highlighting her academic and professional experience in the field of media writing and editing in general and for websites in particular.
Ms. Mohsen thanked the department for hosting her in the seminar, and before viewing her professional experience in journalistic writing for websites, she said: “There are many obstacles facing journalists in the labor market, in addition to the scarcity of job opportunities, which leads to a much greater effort by any journalist to seize any available opportunity.” She noted that the journalist must employ a set of basic elements in his journalistic writing, the most important of which is research.
Ms. Mohsen added: “The journalistic writer’s weapon for websites is conscious reading, continuous writing, the desire to learn, and exploring different and foreign sources.” She added: “The ideas for writing a journalistic story are present in front of us everywhere, but they need a conscious and critical eye to choose the appropriate one for the audience and at the right time.”
She emphasized that the journalist must find the angle that piques the audience’s interest and persuade the editor before moving on to the stage of researching and verifying information. When doubting the credibility of the information, journalists must ignore it. She continued, saying: “The context of the event is highly important to research its background and then highlight it to the readers through writing.”
Ms. Mohsen pointed out the importance of using attractive introductions in the journalistic story, “in which we show our personal impressions.” She stated that today’s media audience is easily bored, drawn to simple and short stories with interesting elements, and desires to feel as if they are a part of the scene that the journalist conveys through that story.
Ms. Mohsen conveyed some of her experience in freelancing and explained the problem that she was suffering from, which is that “not everyone who writes the news is a journalist,” which leads to the loss of job opportunities for professional journalists. However, she considered her experience as a journalist and freelance writer to be wonderful and rich.
At the end of her speech, Ms. Mohsen advised the attending students to develop their skills in the field of media writing through reading and exploring, in addition to paying attention to developing their English language.
It is worth noting that Ms. Mohsen graduated from the Journalism and Media Department at the Islamic University in 2015 before working as a journalist, editor, and freelance writer in both Arabic and English for a number of websites, such as Shams News, Raseef 22, Monitor, and Mondoweiss. She has recently obtained a master’s degree in politics and international relations from Durham University in Britain.
