Amman, 20 June 2021

Between 14 and 17 June, ARIJ, Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism, completed a four- day in-person training for around 100 participants in the “100 Watts” project, supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Jordan. In its first phase, the training program focuses on producing in-depth audio storytelling packages (podcasts).

The training aims to transform vital societal issues to audio storytelling packages that include interviews and sounds from the field narrated in a clear, suspenseful storytelling style.

The hybrid training program, which entails virtual and in-person training sessions, has brought together more than 100 participants, including journalists and media and journalism students, fresh graduates and lecturers. The training hosted five trainers: Safa Al-Ramahi, Rawan Khreis, Nisreen Qaryouti, Mohamed Komani, and Ahmed Abdelkarim. To uphold public health precautions, the participants were divided into groups and assigned to different classrooms to maintain physical distancing.

ARIJ trainer Safa al-Ramahi noted that “good planning and a deep understanding of the topic save time and effort and enable participants to focus on recording interviews and honing their stories during the fieldwork phase.”

Trainer Rawan Khreis, who has more than 15 years of experience in radio journalism, noted: “After a long pause in in-person training, trainees were keen on participating actively in the training sessions. To deliver the material effectively and raise the capacities of the trainees, the training was designed to be hands-on and highly interactive.”

“100 Watts” is a three-year investigative journalism training program launched by ARIJ and supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Jordan. It aims to equip more than 100 journalists, content producers, as well as media and journalism students, fresh graduates, and lecturers based in Jordan with the skills to develop their journalistic and research capabilities. In its first year, the program focuses on audio storytelling to produce podcasts that tackle diverse and vital societal issues, with the aim of promoting accountability and advocating reform.