Maybe covering a camel beauty contest wasn’t what Zahraa Al Khalisi had in mind for her internship at The National newspaper in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Journalism student Zahraa Al Khalisi, right, recently completed an internship at The National, a daily newspaper in her hometown of Abu Dhabi. She collaborated on a story with Haneen Dajani, left, former student of Faculty of Information and Media Studies lecturer Keith Tomasek.
But this was one of the first assignments to cross the budding reporter’s desk.
More than a 1,000 camels were lined up for judging on varying categories of beauty, all for a chance at winning more than $1 million. As one of Al Khalisi’s more memorable and unusual experiences, she learned a lot about newspapering from that first article.
“That was my first story I had to do on my own and it was pretty exciting,” she says.
Al Khalisi is a journalism student at The University of Western Ontario who grew up in Abu Dhabi. During her month-long January internship, she hit the streets covering topical stories of the day, such as reaction to a free bus service, attending a leadership camp for young Emirates girls, reporting on up-and-coming neighbourhoods, and a protest of the fighting in Gaza.
The National is an English-language daily newspaper still in its infancy, developing a readership among English-speaking Arabs, business persons and tourists, as well as foreigners or expatriates who make Abu Dhabi their home.
Many of its reporters and editors hail from internationally acclaimed newspapers, such as The Daily Telegraph, The Times, Wall Street Journal and New York Times. As an Iraqi born in Abu Dhabi, Al Khalisi was familiar with the city and its people, which was an advantage for the rookie.
“Since the first day, they treated me like one of them,” she says of co-workers. “They put so much into making this paper one of the best in the Middle East; I definitely wanted to be a part of that.
“Because (The National) is so new, they do face a lot of challenges,” she adds. “Because the people are so new to the country, it’s kind of difficult for them … all the paper lacks is experience and I guess that will come with time.”
Al Khalisi was often called upon to translate interviews for fellow reporters and her own stories included a diversity of English and Arabic voices.
“I felt that was why I was valuable to them, because I am from there and many of my story ideas were because I was familiar with the area and a lot of people,” she says.
Being a journalist in Abu Dhabi also provided a new perspective on her hometown.
“Doing this job made me realize there are a lot of people we don’t hear from,” she says. “I want to tell their stories to other people. I’ve been there all my life and I’ve never seen it.”
Her highlight was covering a Gaza protest. Although protests are typically banned in the UAE, police authorized the peaceful demonstration that attracted 4,000 people.
“It felt really rewarding because I got the front page and I had another story inside.”
Al Khalisi also met a former student of Faculty of Information and Media Studies lecturer Keith Tomasek.
Prior to joining Western, Tomasek taught broadcast journalism at The American University of Sharjah, in Sharjah, UAE. Tomasek and his family spent three years in Abu Dhabi and he helped to arrange Al Khalisi’s internship at The National.
Haneen Dajani, who studied under Tomasek at The American University of Sharjah, was hired by The National and collaborated with Al Khalisi on an article about a new immigration law.
Tomasek says journalistic traditions translate across cultures. Such international experience will enhance the journalism program and exchanges between students.
“Now Zahraa is going to come back having spent all this time in one of the hotspots in the world in terms of not only the crisis in the Middle East, but also the oil situation … and she’s going to bring that back to the group,” he says.
Although it is expensive to provide international internships, Tomasek hopes Al Khalisi’s experience “will inspire other students to do more international reporting and recognize that storytelling is a great way to bridge cultural gaps.”
Al Khalisi received financial support from Western for her airfare to the UAE.
“I felt if I wasn’t in this program and I did the internship, I would be lost in a lot of ways,” she says. “So many things just become natural, just in the way you write and present your facts.
“It really showed me this is what I wanted to do.”