Johannesburg - A start-up institution in the United Arab Emirates has trained more 60 000 people in 47 countries since its inception two and a half years ago. Its mandate is simple: to increase the number of Arabic-speaking digital thought leaders in the region and then across the world, using innovative digital social solutions.
The New Media Academy was launched in June 2020 by the country’s Vice-President and Prime Minister of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum. This week the academy has been exhibiting at the first-ever Global Media Congress organised by Emirate news agency WAM, which was held at Abu Dhabi’s National Exhibition Centre.
“I’m passionate about what the academy stands for – building digital thought leaders in the region. It’s a powerful statement with a ripple effect throughout the world. We’ve trained 60 000 people in social media across 180 government and private entities, creating 3.7 million followers across our various social media platforms in the process,” said Noora Al Zaabi, the talent manager at New Media Academy.
The academy provides many programmes, and one of the anchor programmes is the Social Media Professional Programme. This programme is held over four weeks, with a syllabus that covers digital brand strategy, digital and search advertising, social strategy, content and email marketing, analytics, and content creation.
Every year the academy shortlists 50 candidates from more than 1 000 applicants of young digital content creators aspiring to become full-time content creators and have a voice in the digital world. The successful applicants take part in the NMA’s flagship Faris al Muhtawa (Knights of Content Creation) programme, which is delivered by international experts drawn from as far afield as Duke University and Rutgers Business School in the US to Google and global content creators.
This intense short programme is held for about six weeks and produces future digital thought leaders who sign exclusively with New Media Academy for the next three years to become full-time content creators, where the academy will manage them and help develop their business strategy and content as well as their personal brand.
The students of the Faris al Muhtawa programme learn scriptwriting, mobile photography, mobile editing, Adobe Premier as well as getting key insights from staff from social media platforms such as Meta, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube, letting them know in real time and real life what kind of content works and what doesn’t. Three classes have graduated from the programme since the launch of the academy, producing more than 100 content creators.
“We are learning and adapting as we go,” explained Al Zaabi, “including changing the curriculum to ensure it remains relevant.
“Only four percent of content worldwide is Arabic. Our goal is to create valuable content on topics that are vital, relevant, informative and entertaining, like sustainability, law, medicine, women empowerment and even comedy.”
“We’re excited to see what comes next and who we reach next.”