Middle East/North Africa

East Jerusalem: A portal by, and for, young Palestianians

Young citizen journalists and aspiring professionals spent six months developing "Qudscom - Your Jerusalem" with DW Akademie support. The portal gives a voice to young Palestinians living in this holy city.

New perspectives

About 70 percent of the population here is under 18 years of age. The young Qudscom reporters want to show Jerusalem from their own perspective, and look at topics that interest other youths, and go beyond political strife. Sometimes the reporters just focus on simple things, like finding freshly squeezed orange juice at a local street stand.
Who? What? How?

Armed with pens, notepads and recorders, these two reporters and 11 other colleagues have been working on Qudscom since May 2014. It's a multimedia platform offering articles, photos, sound and videos. Qudscom is one of the first media projects by the youth organization, Palestinian Youth Vision, and asked DW Akademie for support.
What do you think about…?

Walking up to youths and asking them about their opinion is not something the 13 editors would usually learn at university. They're not all studying journalism, though, some just enjoy being citizen journalists. Either way, they're all involved in Qudscom and working on a voluntary basis. "I love doing street interviews," says Layali. "Being a reporter gives me more confidence."
Listening closely

Urjwan and Layali go over the clips from their street interviews and discuss the ones they want to include in their vox pop. In one of the DW Akademie workshops they quickly learned how to work with the editing program. So far a total of seven workshops have given the team everything they need to know about multimedia reporting.
From the drawing board to the final report

It was pretty complicated. It was pretty complicated. Nardeen and Nuha made several attempts before they found a way to tie their radio report together. The report focuses on future perspectives for Jerusalem's youths. The final product sounds great - it's an interview collage about an engineer who produces and sells jeans for the equivalent of 600 euros per month.
Focusing on research

There are more than 60 sports clubs in Jerusalem, but most of them just offer basketball or fitness courses. Layali and her colleagues are looking for something different, so she tells them about a Tae Kwon Do club she's recently come across. It's not a common sport in Jerusalem, and she produces a lively radio report complete with terrific photos for their online portal.
Mobile reporting

Ahmad and Renad listen intently to Alhareth, the editor-in-chief, as he explains ways to take professional shots using their cell phones and various apps. When gathering material for reports, their smartphone is their number one piece of equipment.
Choosing the right words

How do I write an intro? What makes a catchy headline? Hanan gets some writing tips from Qudscom's editor-in-chief, Alhareth. In addition to producing multimedia components like videos, sound, collages and slideshows, these young journalists also write classic online articles.
More

It's showtime!

The auditorium's full. More than 80 people are attending the launch of the new online portal "Qudscom - Your Jerusalem". Nardeen and Urjwan are excited, and on behalf of their colleagues explain the portal's origins and their own goals. "We want to show Jerusalem from a different perspective and give young Palestinians from East Jerusalem a platform where they can openly discuss their issues."
Next up: radio!

Next on their list is an online radio station and podcasts. DW Akademie will be there once again, offering support to the young Qudscom team.

New perspectives

About 70 percent of the population here is under 18 years of age. The young Qudscom reporters want to show Jerusalem from their own perspective, and look at topics that interest other youths, and go beyond political strife. Sometimes the reporters just focus on simple things, like finding freshly squeezed orange juice at a local street stand.
Who? What? How?

Armed with pens, notepads and recorders, these two reporters and 11 other colleagues have been working on Qudscom since May 2014. It's a multimedia platform offering articles, photos, sound and videos. Qudscom is one of the first media projects by the youth organization, Palestinian Youth Vision, and asked DW Akademie for support.
What do you think about…?

Walking up to youths and asking them about their opinion is not something the 13 editors would usually learn at university. They're not all studying journalism, though, some just enjoy being citizen journalists. Either way, they're all involved in Qudscom and working on a voluntary basis. "I love doing street interviews," says Layali. "Being a reporter gives me more confidence."
Listening closely

Urjwan and Layali go over the clips from their street interviews and discuss the ones they want to include in their vox pop. In one of the DW Akademie workshops they quickly learned how to work with the editing program. So far a total of seven workshops have given the team everything they need to know about multimedia reporting.
From the drawing board to the final report

It was pretty complicated. It was pretty complicated. Nardeen and Nuha made several attempts before they found a way to tie their radio report together. The report focuses on future perspectives for Jerusalem's youths. The final product sounds great - it's an interview collage about an engineer who produces and sells jeans for the equivalent of 600 euros per month.
Focusing on research

There are more than 60 sports clubs in Jerusalem, but most of them just offer basketball or fitness courses. Layali and her colleagues are looking for something different, so she tells them about a Tae Kwon Do club she's recently come across. It's not a common sport in Jerusalem, and she produces a lively radio report complete with terrific photos for their online portal.
Mobile reporting

Ahmad and Renad listen intently to Alhareth, the editor-in-chief, as he explains ways to take professional shots using their cell phones and various apps. When gathering material for reports, their smartphone is their number one piece of equipment.
Choosing the right words

How do I write an intro? What makes a catchy headline? Hanan gets some writing tips from Qudscom's editor-in-chief, Alhareth. In addition to producing multimedia components like videos, sound, collages and slideshows, these young journalists also write classic online articles.
More

It's showtime!

The auditorium's full. More than 80 people are attending the launch of the new online portal "Qudscom - Your Jerusalem". Nardeen and Urjwan are excited, and on behalf of their colleagues explain the portal's origins and their own goals. "We want to show Jerusalem from a different perspective and give young Palestinians from East Jerusalem a platform where they can openly discuss their issues."
Next up: radio!

Next on their list is an online radio station and podcasts. DW Akademie will be there once again, offering support to the young Qudscom team.

Date 13.03.2015
Number of pictures 10
Author Diana Hodali / hw
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Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/1Eqey

SPECIAL

Middle East/North Africa

East Jerusalem: A portal by, and for, young Palestianians

New perspectives

Who? What? How?

What do you think about…?

Listening closely

From the drawing board to the final report

Focusing on research

Mobile reporting

Choosing the right words

It's showtime!

Next up: radio!