US embassy cable - 03ABUDHABI2734

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 002734 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/PPD (WMOONEY, JDAVIES, DMACINNES, 
ACASPER); NEA/PI (CBOURGEOIS); NEA/RA; NEA/ARP 
(LMALENAS, DJONES); NEA/FO; PA; IIP/T/GIC (JBOCHNER, 
WPETERS) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP, KPAO, TC 
SUBJECT:  MEPI: UAE MEDIA TRAINING WORKSHOP ON NEWS, 
FEATURES, AND ANALYTICAL WRITING 
 
 
1.  SUMMARY:  UNDER THE MEPI GOAL OF PROMOTING A MORE 
PROFESSIONAL AND INDEPENDENT MEDIA, VETERAN JOURNALIST 
PAUL MILLER CONDUCTED TWO, WEEK-LONG "NEWS, FEATURES AND 
ANALYTICAL WRITING" WORKSHOPS FOR THE STAFF OF THE 
EMIRATES NEW AGENCY.  MR. MILLER COMPARED WESTERN AND 
ARAB MEDIA SOURCES AND FOCUSED ON IMPROVING BASIC AND 
INTERMEDIATE MEDIA SKILLS, SUCH AS DEVELOPING ANALYTICAL 
SKILLS AND USING MULTIPLE SOURCES AND PERSPECTIVES.  AS 
PAS ABU DHABI WORKS HARD TO PLACE USG POLICIES IN THE 
UAE PRESS, THIS MEPI WORKSHOP OPENED MINDS AND DOORS IN 
THE UAE GOVERNMENT'S OFFICIAL WIRE SERVICE AND BEYOND. 
THE RESULTS AUGUR WELL FOR THE SUCCESS OF FUTURE MEDIA 
TRAINING IN THE UAE. END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  FURTHER TO POST'S PROPOSAL TO IBRAHIM AL ABED, HEAD 
OF THE EMIRATES NEWS AGENCY (WAM) AND CLOSE ADVISOR TO 
MINISTER OF INFORMATION SHEIKH ABDULLAH BIN ZAYED AL 
NAHYAN, PAS ABU DHABI ORGANIZED A MEDIA TRAINING 
WORKSHOP FOR WAM JOURNALISTS AND EDITORS.  MR. AL ABED 
DESCRIBED WAM'S PRIMARY GOAL FOR THE WORSHOP AS TRAINING 
THEIR UAE NATIONAL JOURNALISTS AND EDITORS, WHO OFTEN 
LACK THE SKILLS OF THEIR ARAB EXPATRIATE COUNTERPARTS. 
HE ENCOURAGED MR. MILLER TO EXPRESS HIMSELF FREELY, TO 
COMPARE WESTERN AND ARAB MEDIA METHODS, AND TO WORK ON 
DEVELOPING THE ANALYTICAL AND PRACTICAL SKILLS NECESSARY 
TO CRAFT A PROFESSIONAL WIRE SERVICE STORY. 
 
3.  FROM MAY 17 TO 28, VETERAN US JOURNALIST PAUL MILLER 
CONDUCTED TWO WEEK-LONG MEDIA TRAINING SESSIONS FOR THE 
WAM ABU DHABI AND DUBAI STAFFS.  APPROXIMATELY FORTY 
JUNIOR AND MID-LEVEL UAE NATIONAL AND ARAB EXPATRIATE 
JOURNALISTS PARTICIPATED. MR. MILLER DESCRIBED THE 
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HARD NEWS REPORTING, OPINION 
WRITING, AND FEATURE ANALYSIS, BUT GAVE SPECIAL 
ATTENTION TO PROMOTING ANALYTICAL AND CRITICAL THINKING 
SKILLS IN DEVELOPING NEWS STORIES.  DURING THE TRAINING, 
MR. MILLER REGULARLY URGED THE JOURNALISTS AND EDITORS 
PRESENT TO DRAW UPON BOTH ARAB AND WESTERN MEDIA TO 
PRODUCE OBJECTIVE, FACTUAL REPORTS.  DAILY TOPICS 
INCLUDED "HOW TO WRITE A HARD NEWS STORY", "HOW TO WRITE 
A NEWS LEAD," AND "ELIMINATING BIAS IN REPORTING." 
 
4.  RESULT/IMPACT:  OUTSTANDING.  MR. AL-ABED AND WAM 
PARTICIPANTS PRAISED THE WORKSHOP AND PLEDGED TO 
IMPLEMENT MR. MILLER'S TRAINING IMMEDIATELY.  WHILE THE 
IMPACT OF THIS WORKSHOP ON WAM WILL BE JUDGED OVER TIME, 
ITS BENEFIT AS A PARTNERSHIP INITIATIVE IS ALREADY 
SPREADING TO THE UAE'S OTHER MEDIA OUTLETS.  AT THEIR 
REQUEST, PAS ABU DHABI INTRODUCED MR. MILLER TO THE 
SENIOR MANAGEMENT OF ABU DHABI TV, DUBAI TV (DTV), AND 
AL-ARABIYAH SATELLITE TV.  ALL WERE IMPRESSED, MOST 
NOTABLY DTV ADMINISTRATORS, WHO PROGRAMMED MR. MILLER ON- 
THE-SPOT FOR A WEEKEND WORKSHOP WITH NEWS AND BUSINESS 
EDITORS.  MILLER IS ALREADY SCHEDULED TO RETURN TO DUBAI 
LATER THIS MONTH TO ADVISE ON OVERHAULING THEIR ENTIRE 
OPERATION AND TO PROVIDE FURTHER TRAINING.  COUPLED WITH 
OTHER TRAINING REQUESTS FROM ABU DHABI TV AND AL- 
ARABIYAH, THE IMPACT OF THIS WORKSHOP WILL BE FAR- 
REACHING. 
 
WAHBA