Second Cairo media conference
Bente Kalsnes, OsloMet, talks about digital storytelling (Photo: EMDP, Cairo)
Digital storytelling was the main topic at the Cairo Media Conference held at the American University in Cairo on April 3rd and 4th.
Participants came from, among others, Egypt, Lebanon and Norway. Editors, journalists, students, academics shared insights and experiences on current issues such as digital storytelling, podcasting, fact checking and online debate rules.
Tarek Atia, founder of the Egypt Media Development Program (EMDP) was the main host for the conference, which was a co-operation between EMDP and Egyptian Editors Forum (EEF), the American University in Cairo (AUC) and JMIC/OsloMet.
Digital communication technology offers a plethora of opportunities for media people, but how to keep up with the development and all the new tools available, was one of the reoccurring topics.
The age gap both in newsrooms and in academia was raised as a concern, where the older generation has problems keeping up to date in the digital environment while the young generations grasp opportunities more intuitively. Training, courses and reskilling were mentioned as some ways to address the challenges.
Speeches where held by four different Norwegian participants: Monica Lid (NRK) on how a national broadcaster has succeeded in the digital age, Bente Kalsnes (OsloMet) on digital storytelling, Kristoffer Egeberg (Faktisk) on fact checking and Arne Jensen (Association of Norwegian Editors) on how to handle online discussions.
Kristoffer Egeberg on fact checking and storytelling (Photo: EMDP, Cairo)