Making Media Connections a success! People have been registering earlier than ever before and the conference is shaping up to be great. We hope you can join us to connect with the other fabulous folks that help Community Media Workshop:
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
5 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Columbia College, 1104 S. Wabash - 8th Fl.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
9- 5 PM
Columbia College, 1104 S. Wabash -- 8th Floor
July 23-27, 2008
Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers
NAAJA Annual Convention to press for
recognition of Arab American journalists
by UNITY: Journalists of Color
Panels, discussions, Mediterranean entertainment
Make your presence in professional journalism felt
Stop other minorities from excluding us from
mainstream American services and recognition
PANEL 1: Internet Media: Strategies and Challenges facing Internet News Web and Blog sites Monday, Dec. 3, 2007, 12-2:30
- Moderator, Charley Warady, co-host, Israelisms, an online weekly audio blog of life in Israel (Confirmed)
- Alan Abbey, Former editor, YnetNews.com, one of the most popular English language news sites from Israel (Confirmed)
- Khaled Abou-Aker, Editor, AMIN.org, publishes online columns on the Internet. (Confirmed)
- Elisheva Cohen, MidEastYouth.com one of the highest ranked Middle East news blogs on the Internet (Confirmed)
- Fadi Abu Sada, Director Palestine News Network, an online news agency (Confirmed – or a representative if he is not allowed to cross from Bethlehem)
- Sherif Hedayat, standup comedian, online video producer
PANEL 2: Traditional Media: Strategies and Challenges facing coverage of the Palestine-Israel Conflict
Monday, Dec. 3, 2007, 2:45-5:30
- Moderator: Ray Hanania, syndicated columnist, SPJ-Arab Journalists coordinator, and Arab Writers Group Syndicate manager. (Confirmed)
- Steve Linde, managing editor, The Jerusalem Post, editor at Israel Radio. Linde has worked at the Jerusalem Post for the past 10 years and 18 years at Israel Radio. (Confirmed)
- Lisa Zilberpriver, reporter Haaretz Newspaper. (confirmed)
- Dion Nissenbaum, McClatchy Newspapers Jerusalem Bureau (Confirmed)
- Joel Greenberg, Middle East correspondent for the Chicago Tribune (Confirmed)
- Zaki Abu Al-Halaweh, correspondent for al-Quds Newspaper (Confirmed)
- Issa Sharbati, correspondent for al-Hayat al-Jadida newspaper (Confirmed)
The event is open to the public. We encourage you to have lunch at the Ambassador Hotel prior to the conference.
Friday, Nov. 9, 2007
NAAJA-Chicago meeting with Palestinian Journalists
From left, back row, standing:
Mansour Tadros, publisher of al-Mustaqbal Newspaper in Chicago; Fadi Abu Sada, Director of the Palestine News Network; Issa AbuDayyeh, Arab American journalist based in Chicago; State Department interpreter; Ray Hanania, NAAJA-US/SPJ-Arab Journalists Steering Committee Coordinator and publisher of the National Arab American Times Newspaper.
From left, front row seated:
Zaki Abu Al-Halaweh, Al-Quds Newspaper; Issa Sharabati, al-Hayat al-Jadida Newspaper; Bassem Roomie, AMIN.org; Amani Ghouleh, publisher of al-Offok al-Arabi Newspaper
in Chicago.
BACKGROUND ON GUESTS:
Issa Mohammad Rabi Sharabati - Jerusalem, West Bank
Correspondent, Alhayat Aljadida newspaper / Chicago Tribune. Mr. Issa Sharabati has been a correspondent with Alhayat Aljadida newspaper since 1997, and has worked with the Chicago Tribune since 2005. He received his degree in media in 1997 from Bier Ziet University. Alhayat Aljadida was established in 1995 after the Oslo agreements. It is a Palestinian daily newspaper based in Ramallah in the West Bank. The paper is considered to be the official newspaper of the Palestinian Authority, and almost all of its 100 employees receive their salary from the Palestinian Authority. Circulation is 10,000 daily.
Al-Ayyam newspaper is an independent Palestinian daily newspaper, established in 1995. Its main office is located in Ramallah, the largest city in the West Bank, and it has a branch in Gaza City, the largest city in Gaza. Al-Ayyam is the chief rival to the leading daily, Al-Quds newspaper, and also provides a counterweight to the official daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda. Al-Ayyam’s circulation is 22,000, and has the second widest distribution of the Palestinian dailies.
Fadi Abu Saada - Bethlehem, West Bank. Director, Palestine News Network. Mr. Fadi Abusaada is the Director of the Palestine News Network. He has been the director of the Palestine News Network for 5 years. He has the equivalent of two Associates’ degrees in media studies - one from a joint Palestinian/Israeli/Jordanian program, 1999 (diploma was issued, but not by a diploma granting institution) and one from Turku Institute in Turku, Finland in 1997. With another colleague, Mr. Abusaada created the first Arabic Net radio in the Arab world (Amman Net) before moving to Palestine to create PNN.
The Palestine News Network (PNN) is an independent news agency and the first one to be licensed, in 2003, in the Palestinian Authority. PNN has two main goals: 1) to strengthen the local media; and 2) To spread more of the culture of non-violence resistance between Palestinians.
Baseem M. J. Roomie. Editor and Administration Manager, Arabic Media Internet Network (AMIN). Mr. Baseem Roomie has been an Editor and the Administration Manager with the Arabic Media Internet Network (AMIN) since 2003. In 1996, he created the Arabic Media Internet Network, which has become one of the largest sources of Arabic language news on the Internet. He has also been working with Media-Line News Agency since 2007. From 2000 to 2004, Mr. Roomie worked as News Editor for the Jerusalem Times. From 1996 to 2006, he was the Head of the English Service Program with the Voice of Palest! ! ! ! i ne . Mr. Roomie received a Bachelor of Arts in English and Journalism, in 1996, from the Jordanian Yarmouk University.
Arabic Media Internet Network (AMIN), created in 1996, http://www.amin.org has become one of the largest sources of Arabic language news on the Internet. Its service averages close to 200,000 pages per month, and the Web site reaches a wide audience in Palestine, as well as the Arab world and the international community. AMIN is designed to support the work of Arabic-language journalists and to serve as a watchdog for violations of the freedom of the press. The Web site also provides exposure to debated issues in non-governmental organization forums in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Its goal is to provide a safe-haven for journalists, a networking vehicle for stories and! ! ! ! a n ad v ocacy mechanism for print and broadcast journalists and NGO’s concerned with freedom of expression.
Mr. Zaki Zakariya Abu Elhalaweh - East Jerusalem, West Bank
Journalist, Al Quds newspaper. Mr. Zaki El-Halaweh has been a political correspondent with Al-Quds daily since 1992. He is one of the daily’s two senior political reporters covering Jerusalem. Mr. El-Halaweh started his journalism career in 1989, working as a reporter for the now defunct Palestinian daily An-Nahar. He has a diploma in English literature from the West Bank University of Birzeit. Al Quds is the oldest and most widely read independent Palestinian daily, considered the paper of record. Al Quds newspaper has a circulation of 55,000.
