Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Youngsters wanting to break into the kingdom’s media industry are being given the chance of a lifetime to learn from experts in the field as well as win an opportunity to produce their own shows.
The Media Talents Award 2023, held under the patronage of Information Affairs Minister Dr Ramzan Al Nuaimi and organised in partnership with Tamkeen, was launched in September by the Information Affairs Ministry to empower the island’s youth in professional multi-media production.
“This award will empower youth with media capabilities, create an atmosphere of challenge and creativity, and develop a second generation of media presenters in radio, TV or on social media…to cover all sectors - be it governmental, private or online,” said Younis Salman Alghais, director of radio and the head of the award committee.
The award, part of Creativity Lab initiatives that the ministry launched in 2022, aims to highlight the island’s media talents to enrich audio and visual production. This will be done through training that aims to polish and build-up the skills of Bahrain’s talented participants, enabling them to be integrated into the national and international media market.
This year’s edition focuses on ‘Presenting and Producing Variety Radio and Television Shows’ and it includes two competitions – Arabic and English.
“Participants need to create a video of themselves for three minutes, about a topic of their choosing,” said Sabeeka Alshehi, a media talent awards committee member. “Then a judging panel will assess the videos, conduct interviews and shortlist the applicants to 30 candidates.
“The nominated 30 will enter an eight-week training plan to learn how to present radio and TV programmes, as well as create content. Experts from Bahrain and abroad will guide the participants who will conclude with a final project.”
The training programme includes introduction to media professions, media ethics and code of conduct, the art of producing, presenting, field reporting, Arabic and English languages phonology and morphology in addition to radio and television dialogue and social media content creation.
“They will all get certificates of appreciation and the best three shows will be produced for the winners,” continued Sabeeka.
“We have a lot of participants joining at the moment, for both English and Arabic, and we expect more to sign up as the last day to apply is tomorrow (October 5).”
The committee has been conducting a successful media campaign and road show in which influential individuals from the media industry, such as BTV’s news anchor Aisha Ebrahim and 96.5FM Radio Bahrain’s RJ Ali Dawood, and from social media have been making rounds at universities to share their journeys in the field with aspiring movers and shakers.
“Every person has the opportunity or skill set to be in media, if he or she is able to share their message the right way, whether with your voice or your image,” added Sabeeka. “You must build upon that talent. This programme is a golden chance for all those that have media talents because through this we are growing professionals in the field to produce and present as per international standards.
“We have many production houses in Bahrain that are looking for writers, content creators and voice-over artists and presenters. Participants will gain all of these skills from this programme and whoever wins will have the spotlight on them with many doors and opportunities opening to them as well. We will also show the amount of talent we have in Bahrain.”
The award is open to those aged 18 to 35, and have not presented radio or television shows before. They should also pass the preliminary evaluation and judging panel interviews. The winners will be announced in December.
Those interested can register via www.infoaward.net where there will be an application for the Arabic or English competitions.
Email infoaward@info.gov.bh for details.
