Success stories of the 10th cohort of the IJNet Arabic Mentoring Center

Over the course of a decade, IJNet Arabic's Mentoring Center for Media Startups has helped nearly 80 media entrepreneurs across the Middle East and North Africa develop innovative news platforms.

In this year's 10th year of the Mentoring Center, eight mentees dedicated themselves to building the sustainability of their initiatives focused on addressing critical issues in the region, including democracy, refugees, climate change and more.

They come from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Lebanon, Libya and Yemen and were mentored by Ahmed Esmat, Managing Director of Alexandria Media Form, and Ramsey TesdellManaging Director of Arabic podcasting platform Sowt, for practical guidance that included weekly phone calls, long-term assignments, and in-person training in Amman, Jordan, as part of the Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) annual forum.

This is what happened to this year’s mentees last year:

Rahma Diaa, Egypt

Rahma Diaa expanded her platform “Climate School,” which offers Arabic-speaking journalists training in climate journalism.

“The initiative has grown a lot. Our team has now grown to around 20 volunteers,” said Diaa. “We have established around 10 new partnerships with regional and local organizations during the program. Around 600 journalists from 20 countries in the Middle East and North Africa have participated in 16 training courses organized by us.”

Diaa said the mentoring center taught her the importance of collaboration and she has built partnerships with several of her fellow participants and their initiatives.

“I created an audio guide with Laha Podcast on dos and don’ts of environmental reporting and collaborated with She Checks to launch the ‘Her Climate’ media campaign,” said Diaa, referring to an initiative to raise awareness about the impact of climate change on women through social media. “I also created a joint [training] Pre-COP28 meeting with Shabab House.”

With a grant from the Center, Diaa hosted a separate training for journalists on humanitarian storytelling regarding the impact of climate change on women.

Valentine Nesser, Lebanon

Valentine Nesser runs Silat Wassel, which publishes content on feminism and youth issues in southern Lebanon.

During the program, Nesser developed a content strategy, partnered with other Mentoring Center initiatives, and raised funds to support their work.

“[Prior to the Mentoring Center, my initiative was] “The project was in its early stages and lacked clear guidance and strategic planning,” said Nesser. “Thanks to the guidance during the program, I was able to refine my project's goals, establish a comprehensive strategy for content creation and distribution, and form partnerships.”

Nesser also organized a workshop on access to information in southern Lebanon, training on data journalism, and a webinar series with the Google News Initiative on combating misinformation and disinformation, digital safety for journalists, and more.

“I gained valuable insights into audience engagement and user experience, which helped me improve the reach and impact of my platform. Through networking during the program, I was able to secure funding opportunities,” explained Nesser.

Assem al-Shameri, Yemen

Assem al-Shameri heads the Shabab House Foundation for Media and Cultural Development, which reports on social issues in Yemen.

“During the program, I worked on internal matters within the organization. We reached out to donors as the program provided the opportunity to coordinate with them. I also built partnerships with [fellow mentees at] Silat Wassel and She Checks,” said al-Shameri.

With funding from the program, Shabab House was able to launch its Political Awareness for Peace project, a series of six videos on UN Resolution 2250 to encourage young people to participate in global peace efforts to combat the spread of violent extremism.

Ehab Zidan, Egypt

Ehab Zidan's medium al-Mohajer is an interactive platform specializing in refugee and migration issues in the Middle East and North Africa.

Al-Mohajer's content included news for and about refugees, as well as data-driven research on refugee issues. “We published newsletters on jobs and opportunities for refugees and asylum seekers in Egypt, as well as a newsletter on psychological support specifically for refugees and children fleeing conflict and war zones,” Zidan said.

During his mentoring stay, Zidan created social media marketing plans, improved funding sources, and worked with regional and international media to produce articles on immigration and asylum issues.

With a grant from the program, al-Mohajer reported on the challenges facing refugees, displaced persons and asylum seekers in Yemen, Jordan, Egypt and Sudan.

Lahcen Chuis, Morocco

Lahcen Chuis runs Dialogue for Democracy, a platform that reports on issues of public interest in Morocco.

While at the Mentoring Center, Chuis expanded Dialogue for Democracy's social media presence and funding sources and was accepted into a DW Akademie training program.

It partnered with civil society organizations to implement joint media programs. Dialogue for Democracy also organized a series of discussions with young people in Morocco on human rights and the rule of law.

“The programme has enhanced the skills of media entrepreneurs and opened up new horizons for them through advice, training, financing and network building,” he said.

Ruwaida Fallag, Libya

Ruwaida Fallag is the founder of She Checks, a company specializing in combating AI-generated disinformation and fact-checking content targeting mothers in Libya and the wider Maghreb region.

During her participation in the Mentoring Center, Fallag said, she developed workflows to increase her team's productivity and established important partnerships with regional and international fact-checking organizations.

With a grant from the program, Fallag launched a project to combat disinformation using Instagram Reels as part of She Checks. “Our team, under the supervision of mentor Ramsey Tesdell, created the first guide to smartphone fact-checking,” she said.

Raghad Gharaibeh, Jordan

Jordanian journalist Raghad Gharaibeh runs the Jordanian Youth Dialogue platform to raise awareness among young audiences about human rights.

Through the Mentoring Center, Gharaibeh developed a strategic business model to manage her company's work and build partnerships.

“I started putting the mentor’s advice into practice by conducting market analysis and targeting the appropriate audience,” said Gharaibeh, adding that the program helped improve the financial independence and sustainability of her sales business.

Gharaibeh used a grant from the Mentoring Center to fund a project to promote positive change through solutions journalism in Jordan. She worked with journalists and producers to create a series of videos about solutions reporting, its impact on society, and expert tips on crafting stories using this approach.

Madgeda Zouine, Algeria

Madgeda Zouine is co-founder of Laha Podcast, an initiative that produces podcasts and videos on women's issues and rights.

During the Mentoring Center, Zouine improved her digital marketing strategies and identified content areas that were of high interest to female listeners, which helped her grow Laha's audience.

“My participation in the program gave me the opportunity to work with women's organizations and platforms. I improved the digital presence [on Facebook and am also] “We are planning to set up a new website for the Laha podcast,” she explained.

With a grant from the program, she launched a project called “Feminism and Digital Content in Algeria,” which released a series of videos and a podcast focused on improving women’s representation online.

Through networking during the program, she was also able to build partnerships with the Climate School and Le Journal Féministe Algérien.