Trainers

Rabie Barakat

Rabie Barakat is a communications consultant and Lecturer in Media Studies at the American University of Beirut (AUB). He brings over 20 years of experience in print, television, and digital journalism. Rabie has trained with International Media Support (IMS), the Al Jazeera Media Institute, and DW Akademie. He holds a PhD from the University of Edinburgh and taught as a fellow at New York University (NYU).

Ahmad Maher

Ahmad Maher is a senior editor and broadcast journalist with over 20 years of field experience across the Middle East, Gulf, and North Africa. He has reported from more than 15 countries and published widely in leading outlets, including the BBC, The National, Al Jazeera English, and Al Majalla.

Souhaib Anjarini

Souhaib Anjarini was a consultant and trainer with Free Press Unlimited (FPU), where he mentored media practitioners and provided context analysis on the Middle East. He also worked as a journalist and editor at al-Akhbar and al-Safir newspapers.

Saleem Salameh

Saleem Salameh is a writer, audio documentary and podcast producer, filmmaker, and trainer. He has produced more than 140 podcast episodes across 14 series. His filmmaking spans documentary, fiction, and experimental short films, several of which have been nominated for awards and screened at international festivals.

Faten Jebai

Faten Jebai is a trainer specializing in Mobile Journalism and Constructive Journalism. She has designed and delivered workshops for more than 200 refugees and media students in Lebanon and over 150 journalists across the MENA region. Faten trained with DW Akademie and the Al Jazeera Media Institute and worked as a photojournalist and videographer with Deutsche Welle and ZDF.

Samya Ayish

Samya Ayish is a freelance trainer and communications strategist and a former Google News Initiative Teaching Fellow, where she conducted workshops for journalists across the MENA region and developed new training curricula. She is also a former digital producer at CNN Arabic, where she covered culture, arts, and entertainment.

Abdulghani Kataya

Abdulghani Kataya is the Media Program Manager at SMEX, where he leads work on digital content, editorial strategy, and multimedia production. His role includes managing online campaigns on internet governance, telecom access, and business and human rights, as well as organizing and moderating sessions on technology, entrepreneurship, and digital rights.

Sara Hteit

Sara Hteit is a trainer and mentor specializing in social media engagement and campaigning. She has delivered webinars for journalists with ICFJ and provided training and mentoring with DW Akademie. Sara has also developed and led online training programs on journalism for DW Akademie, FNF, UNESCO, and UNDP.

Rasha Qandeel

Rasha Qandeel is a former senior BBC Arabic bilingual presenter and reporter, known for her work on Newsnight, HardTalk, Talking Point, and news bulletins since 2007. She has also worked as a trainer and consultant with international organizations including ICFJ, GIJN, IJNet, UN IOM, UNHCR, UNICEF, MiCT, and ARIJ.

Bissan Tay

Bissan Tay is a specialist in training and capacity building in visual storytelling. As a journalist, she worked with Annahar, al-Hayat, al-Safir, and al-Akhbar newspapers. She has also worked in documentary production with France 24, ARTE, Canal+, CNN, al-Jazeera Documentary, and al-Jazeera, among others.

Mariam Karouni

Mariam Karouni worked for more than 15 years at Reuters News Agency, including five years in Iraq as Deputy Bureau Chief in Baghdad. She was part of the Reuters team named Journalists of the Year in 2008. Mariam also served on the Reuters World Desk for two years, editing stories from Asia, Europe, and Africa.

Dina Moussa

Dina Moussa is a former TV and radio presenter and senior broadcast journalist at the BBC, where she led BBC Xtra’s social and digital media strategy, including data analysis and planning across short-, mid-, and long-term horizons. She previously worked as a talk-show anchor and news presenter at Alhurra, CBC, and al-Jazeera Mubasher Egypt.

Khaled Nasser

Khaled Nasser has led wellbeing programs for trauma-affected journalists with International Media Support (IMS) in Yemen, Egypt, and Jordan. He has also worked one-on-one with journalists from Iraq, Egypt, and Palestine and has served as a trauma consultant in training workshops for international and Arab journalists in partnership with the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University.

Sinan Issa

Sinan Issa has supervised the production of infographics and interactive maps for multimedia reports with outlets including al-Akhbar newspaper and Awan. His work spans data collection, analysis, and visualization. He also designed a data journalism training module for Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) and has delivered training sessions on data journalism.

Rouba Abo Ammo

Rouba Abo Ammo is a Project and Media Manager at Dawaer Foundation, which she co-founded in 2015. With 18 years of experience in journalism and project management, she is a seasoned trainer in media literacy, combating hate speech, storytelling, conflict-sensitive reporting, and climate change communication.