Students on Al-Fanar Media’s Gen Z Project Surprised to Be Doing Practical Journalism Immediately

Students on Al-Fanar Media’s Gen Z project were surprised to find themselves doing practical journalism immediately.

Moaz Wael, a first-year student at the Faculty of Mass Communication at Ain Shams University, in Cairo, said: “Before joining the Gen Z Project, I expected to receive only theoretical lectures, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that we were given practical training, creating our own content, and receiving guidance and adjustments from the trainers. This is the most effective way to learn—through trial and error.

Wael was one of ten students in the first cohort of Al-Fanar Media’s Gen Z project, which began training in mid-February and finished in mid-August. The participants came from faculties of media, commerce, and computer science at universities in Egypt, Syria, and Morocco, and most had previously taken part in media literacy workshops Al-Fanar Media conducted at Arab universities.

Al-Fanar Media launched the Gen Z Project to train Arab university students in professional journalism, particularly for social media, with the goal of shaping them into “journo- influencers” who create and share ethical, responsible news content on platforms like Instagram, YouTube, Substack, and TikTok.

Wael covered the first Joint International Conference for Media Colleges and Institutes, held in Egypt’s Media Production City, near Cairo, last April, and created several short reels that were shared on Al-Fanar Media’s social media accounts.

“The most important skill I gained was research,” Wael said. “During the training, I realised it is essential at every stage of content creation—from writing the script to determining the best camera angles and lighting during filming—alongside the guidance provided by the trainers.”

“Before the training, I didn’t have any writing skills. During the training, I was asked to write a script for a short social media video, and I didn’t do it well.”

“However, in the very next session, I discovered that the entire session was dedicated to professional scriptwriting. The trainers also shared examples from well-known content creators, which helped me truly understand what writing entails,” he added.

“Throughout the training, I learned important skills such as writing, filming, editing, and turning written material into video content. Even in terms of soft skills, I learned how to build relationships with my colleagues on the project. All of these skills will positively impact my professional and academic future.”

High Journalistic Standards

Mohammad El-Hawary, chief executive and editor-in-chief of Al-Fanar Media, said: “We launched the Gen Z Project because we are always keen to follow developments in the global media landscape, of which we are a part.

“Over the past two years, it has become very clear that the phenomenon of ‘journo-influencers’, or journalist influencers, has been growing. Yet, no mature experience in this field exists in the Arab world. Therefore, we took it upon ourselves to introduce alternative voices from young journalists who are committed to professional standards and ethics, and who are capable of becoming journo-influencers in the areas of higher education, scientific research, and skills development—by young people, for young people—through Al-Fanar Media’s social media platforms and accounts. This is particularly important, as the largest segment of our audience is young people aged 18 to 25.”

El-Hawary said the Gen Z project “trained participants on creating and developing ideas for digital content, in addition to journalistic standards and ethics, and how to become trusted online voices and influencers in line with journalistic principles and public expectations in the fields of higher education, scientific research, and skills development.”

The participants received training in the use of mobile phones, social media platforms, and artificial intelligence (AI) tools, as well as in editing, writing engaging scripts, and transforming journalistic stories into “reels”, or short video clips. They were also trained in reporting, event coverage, writing, and overall skills development.

“The greatest benefit the participants gained was learning how to produce and present specialised, reliable content in an engaging way,” El-Hawary said.

“There are four very important areas of journalistic work globally: beat reporting, fact-checking, journo-influencers, and data journalism. This project succeeded in covering three of the most in-demand job skills in today’s global media market.”

El-Hawary also had a message for the new generation of journalists and content creators: keeping pace with developments does not mean abandoning standards and ethics.

“We live in the age of AI, where uniquely human skills remain indispensable alongside the ability to use AI, harness it, and verify its outputs. We always encourage young journalists to think of their ideas in three stages: how to present them traditionally, how to present them digitally, and how to present them with AI. This is what we need, and this is what I call on everyone interested in content, journalism, digital media, and media in general to commit to.”

Participants’ Views of the Training

 Graduates of the Gen Z Project gave their views about the course afterwards. Muad Saissid, a student at the National School of Commerce and Management at Ibn Zohr University, in Agadir, Morocco, attended a media literacy workshop last February before being selected for the Gen Z Project.

He said: “I expected the project to be an opportunity to enhance my content creation skills and collaborate with Arab youth, and that is exactly what happened. I didn’t expect to be working on news reports as part of the training. While it wasn’t a major challenge, it gave me a valuable new experience that I hadn’t initially imagined.”

Saissid said he learned how to design content tailored to different audience categories, with a strong focus on professional script writing that considers logical sequencing, hooks, and clarity. “I now pay much more attention to clarity of thought from the beginning, and to choosing the right words to quickly deliver the message,” he said. “The training taught me that successful content doesn’t have to be complicated; rather, it should meet the viewer’s needs in a language that feels close to them.”

Another participant, aspiring Syrian journalist Ghazal Hamdan, a graduate of Al-Rasheed University in Damascus,  roduced a story called  “Syrian Universities as Sanctuaries against Sectarianism: A Student’s View” as part of the project.

Ghazal said: “Before participating in the Gen Z Project, I never imagined I would be able to write an article professionally, let alone publish one.”

Like Wael, Ghazal also said the most valuable skill she acquired was research, “whether for my first article on Syrian universities and sectarianism, or my story on Syrian universities in global rankings—especially given the lack of official sources of information here, in a country just emerging from war”.

She added: “The training helped me move from creative writing to producing articles grounded in research and professional standards. I intend to keep working and learning, and to build on the skills I gained during the training, which I consider a turning point in my career path.”

Another participant, Hazem Mohamed Motamed, a graduate of the Faculty of Mass Communication at Beni Suef University, covered  several events during the project, including the American University in Cairo’s Cultural Festival in April and the fourth official conference of the Egyptian Pharmacy Students Federation. He also created several reels.

Motamed said: “Before starting the training, I expected we would only receive theoretical lectures, but I discovered that the training is practical, based on interaction, and involves completing assignments ourselves.”

Motamed said the most important skills he gained was “the ability to organise my thoughts and present them in an engaging style suited to the target audience on social media platforms. The training also taught me to write more clearly and simply, focus on engaging writing elements, and enhance visual appeal, which helps content reach audiences faster and increase its impact.”

He added: “I intend to leverage the skills I learned during the training both in my work as a journalist and in creating content for social media platforms.”

The content Motamed created  and published on his own social media accounts had  over 2 million views across all platforms, he said.

Basmala Ashraf, a participant and a third-year student in the Faculty of Languages and Mass Communication at Egypt’s Arab Academy for Science, Technology, and Maritime Transport, also created  several pieces of content for Instagram and other social media platforms.

Ashraf said: “Before joining the training, I didn’t expect to work on actual projects that would be published. I thought we would have to wait a long period of training before publishing content under our own names. But after two or three weeks, I realised that we were the ones creating the content, making the necessary adjustments, and finally seeing our work published.”

The most important skills she learned, Ashraf said, were how to adapt her writing to target audiences, along with in-depth research and idea development.

“I learned not to immediately implement the first idea that came to mind, but to ask myself how I could develop it and explore multiple options before choosing the most appropriate one to implement,” she said. “I also learned effective communication with my colleagues on the project. Each team member has a specific role, and we communicate and collaborate as a team.”