Workshops and training courses will be led by a selection of the most experienced Arab media professionals and broadcasters, including Giselle Khoury, Nadim Koteich, Youssef Al-Tsoori, Majid Al-Farsi, Sami Qasimi, Maha Abdullah, Chantal Saliba, Ramza Zakharia and Musa Al-Balushi. People who sign up to the Academy courses will also benefit from the expertise of key media professionals from International Media Investments titles, The National and Al Roeya, such as Mina Al-Oraibi, Ahmed Al-Alawi, Mustafa Al-Rawi and Nasreen Fakher.

Speaking about the training academy, Nart Bouran, CEO of International Media Investments, whose assets include Sky News Arabia, said: “As a leader and pioneer in the media sector we recognise the importance of nurturing future talent. Sky News Arabia Academy is committed to shaping the future of media and empowering talent, as well as strengthening other sectors by equipping professionals with the media and digital skills they need to thrive. By leveraging the established talent within our organisation and the latest technologies and techniques, we are realising our ambition to nurture the next generation of media professionals across the Middle East and North Africa.”

The Academy also provides the opportunity to train in the Sky News Arabia studios, the most technically advanced in the Arab world, while the wide range of courses includes content developed by the region’s leading skilled journalists, content creators and media leaders.

Mahra Al Yaqoobi, Head of Training Programmes at Sky News Arabia Academy, added: “We believe that the right training opens endless possibilities. We launched Sky News Arabia Academy to give those wishing to enter the world of media the perfect start to their exciting journey, equipping them with powerful tools for success with courses that cover all media platforms: visual, audio, and digital.

“We invite anyone with an interest in media to register for our courses to develop their skills and take advantage of a broad range of possibilities in the media sector.”

Sky News Arabia Academy offers more than 30 specialised academic courses in four main categories, in the Arabic language: Digital and Social Media, Technical Operations, Television Production and Radio Production. Courses will initially be available in the UAE and will be extended to other GCC and Arab countries. The first training course will include 26 students, the winners of ‘Sky News Arabia Star’, a programme launched in early 2020 in cooperation with 14 universities in the Arab world.

Media presenter Nadim Koteich, Dr Yahya Khairallah, and experienced digital journalist Iman Khattab will present the course that combines traditional and advanced media under three main sections: digital communication, television presenting, and editorial writing.

Sky News Arabia Academy training courses are available to a wide range of institutions, including government and semi-government agencies, private companies, scientific and media centres, universities and colleges, as well as individuals interested in pursuing a career in media or seeking to acquire outstanding media skills that will help in all aspects of life.

Creators will also be able to monetise their Rooms, via Facebook’s Stars donation system, while it’s also working on additional monetization models, “like the ability to charge for access to a Live Audio Room through a single purchase or a subscription”.

In addition to this, Facebook says that creators will also be able to turn a live conversation into a podcast for everyone to listen to later, providing more ways to use the content.

Facebook will also launch a new feature, Soundbites, where users can create and share short audio clips.

The feature will be launched over the next few months, at first with a small number of creators.

Facebook rooms will also initially be made available to public figures, with a broader rollout coming in the summer.

In addition to this, Facebook is also launching a new tool called ‘Soundbites’, which will enable users to create short-form audio clips using a range of effects and tools.

The new tool will showcase Facebook’s various advances in audio tech – as explained by Facebook’s Fidji Simo in a blog post: “Through our advances in AI, we can make audio quality magically great – even if you record on a busy street corner. You will be able to use music from Facebook’s Sound Collection in the background of your story to set the tone. And with the ability to mix audio tracks, a growing collection of sound effects, voice effects and filters, it should be a lot of fun too.”

The option will eventually enable users to post their own audio clips to Facebook, in a whole new format.

Simo added: “Audio seamlessly fits within our busy lives, allows us to be inspired by new ideas, and talk with other like-minded people without pressure.”

Facebook says it will start testing Soundbites over the next few months.

Users will be able to make money in the Live Audio Rooms or with Soundbites, though it’s unclear if this will be available to anyone or just reserved for creators with large followings.

Facebook’s also looking to tap into podcasts more specifically, with the launch of new podcast listening and discovery tools in the app.

As explained in the blog post: “Within the next few months, you’ll be able to listen to podcasts directly on the Facebook app – both while using the app or when the app is backgrounded. And because it’s still hard to discover podcasts you like, we will help you easily find new podcasts and episodes based on your interests, comment on them and recommend them to your friends.”