Media for the Arab world
Interview with Tony Orsten,
CEO, TwoFour54
TwoFour54 is a special government authority tasked
with the development of a world-class Arabic media
and entertainment content creation industry for the
Arab world and the administration of a free zone for
those purposes.
With the exception of the Al Jazeera news channel,
Arab media and entertainment have not made the
transition into mainstream world media thus far. This
is something that TwoFour54 is setting out to change.
Working in partnership with a number of
international training partners, including the BBC
and Thomson Reuters, TwoFour54 have established
a media training academy to up-skill and re-skill
media professionals and those interested in pursuing
a career in the media industry. Until this point, the
region has lacked quality training in this area.
“There were no courses available for young
graduates wishing to join television stations. The
opportunities simply did not exist” says TwoFour54’s
Chief Executive Officer, Tony Orsten, “Our training
academy offers courses for budding engineers and
technologists, producers, researchers and programme
makers.”
“There are lots of talented creative people here with
no skills, so it is our job to bring them up to the level
required” says the Chief Executive.
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