AfroMedia Initiative Concludes 'Late Journalist Mohamed Mounir' Training Course for Sudanese Media Professionals & Broadcasters
The AfroMedia Initiative for Journalism and Media has announced the conclusion of the training course it organized for a group of Sudanese media professionals, journalists, and workers in the Sudanese media sector who speak Arabic and reside in Egypt.
The course was named after the late journalist Mohamed Mounir, who passed away in February. It was held under the aegis of Daily News Africa, with the participation of a distinguished group of specialized lecturers in the field of journalism and media.
Anthropology researcher and international activist Hassan Ghazaly, founder of the AfroMedia Initiative, stated that the course was completely free and was named after the late writer and journalist Mohamed Mounir, a journalist at Al-Gomhuria newspaper, who passed away after a distinguished career in journalism and media. His dedicated work and patriotism towards Egypt and its African and Global South affiliations were evident through his numerous journalistic contributions on Africa and Egypt's leading role on the continent.
The course covered many important topics over three days. On the first day, journalist Ahmed Mahmoud, Managing Editor of the Ahram Online English portal, lectured on 'Digital Journalism.' Journalist Mohamed Samir, Editor-in-Chief of Daily News Africa, spoke about 'The Experience of Ahram Online and Daily News Africa.' Additionally, Dr. Ayman Adly, Head of the Training and Education Committee at the Media Syndicate and a member of the African Journalists Union, delivered a lecture on 'The Key Attributes of a Good Media Professional.'
On the second day, investigative journalist Mohamed Magdy Abouzeid presented a session on 'Using Artificial Intelligence to Detect Misinformation in Images and Videos."' Moreover, Journalist Mohamed Al-Mamlouk, Editor-in-Chief of Cairo 24, discussed 'The Experience of Using Artificial Intelligence in Journalism.'
On the third day, Dr. Osama Al-Qadi, a distinguished journalist with extensive experience in media training and university teaching, lectured on 'AI Tools in Media Content Creation.' Additionally, journalist and international trainer Iman Al-Warraqi, founder of the Artificial Intelligence Revolution Initiative, delivered a session titled 'AI Creativity: Strategies and Techniques for Innovative Content Creation.'
Ghazaly emphasized that the course resulted in several key recommendations from the participating experts and Sudanese media professionals, including:
A- The importance of developing positive relations between the peoples of the Nile Valley.
B- Protecting young people from cultural invasion through education and heritage-based cultural and creative initiatives.
C- Integrating local cultural content into educational curricula to enhance national and cultural identity.
D- Encouraging local artists and writers to produce works that reflect cultural identity and inspire youth.
E- Considering potential joint projects in the near future and reviewing the role of media in shaping social and cultural influences in Arab and Islamic societies.
F- Establishing an online platform to facilitate cultural and social connections, with participation from scholars as a foundation for real engagement between Nile Valley communities.
G- Increasing training courses for media professionals, especially in the field of artificial intelligence.
H- Organizing visits to major Egyptian media institutions to enrich the experience of all trainees.
I- Strengthening the AfroMedia Initiative's role in media and cultural activities in Sudan once security conditions stabilize.
J- Emphasizing the necessity of employing artificial intelligence technologies in contemporary media, particularly in visual and audio broadcasting.
On the final day of the course, participants expressed their gratitude to the Egyptian state and the AfroMedia Initiative. Certificates were awarded, and trainers were honored. The participants voluntarily prepared a banquet featuring Sudanese and Egyptian delicacies, symbolizing cultural and social closeness.
They also spontaneously and collectively sang the song of the late Sudanese icon Dr. Abdel Karim AlKabli, 'Egypt, O Sister of My Country,' accompanied by the melodies of the Nile Valley.
It is worth mentioning that the AfroMedia Initiative operates under the slogan 'The Voice of Egypt… The Voice of Africa' and is one of the initiatives under the Global Solidarity Network. It was founded by anthropology researcher Hassan Ghazaly in February 2021 to strengthen journalistic and media relations between Egypt and African nations.
The initiative focuses on developing the skills of journalists and media professionals to accurately portray Africa's image, fostering media cooperation between African peoples, and serving as a media bridge between Egyptians and other African communities. It seeks to coordinate efforts and organize a unified media narrative between Egyptian and non-Egyptian Africans, ensuring an accurate and positive perception of Africa. Moreover, it aims to educate and train Egyptian journalists and media professionals on African-related content in general.
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As for propositions whose truth value is indeterminate – he gives the example of 'wine is liquid ruby' – their only value is in poetry. Propositions that claim to be true neither by definition nor by experience – his example is 'beyond the world is a limitless void' – are either false or meaningless. An argument built on such premises 'is called sophistry, and its goal is to silence or deceive an opponent.' Street says that while it can never be known why logic became a core subject of the mediaeval madrassas, 'there can be no doubt that [its] utility for analysing and justifying legal reasoning was a major consideration.' Even if some religious scholars 'regarded the broader logical tradition with suspicion,' owing to its non-religious origin, 'they were prepared to include the Rules among texts unobjectionable to pious concerns.' 'Few of the Rules's readers went on to formulate knowledge-claims in the propositional forms listed in the Rules,' he says, 'and still fewer went on to deduce new knowledge-claims using the inference-schemata' provided by al-Katibi. 'But all would have come away… with an appreciation of the many pitfalls of building an argument in natural language.' Abu Nuwas, A Demon Spirit: Arabic Hunting Poems, trans. James Montgomery, pp 432, Najim al-Din al-Katibi, The Rules of Logic, trans. Tony Street, pp179, both New York: New York University Press, 2024 * A version of this article appears in print in the 6 August, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
