African Media Agency launches AMA Academy to empower journalists, content providers and publishers in Africa
African Media Agency, a pan-African communications network, announced the launch of AMA Academy, a free tool for the African media industry dedicated to empowering journalists, content providers and publishers through tailored training and certification.
The global demand for an African narrative is ever growing, and the supply of geopolitical and socioeconomic content from all over the continent is head spinning. To address these forces of demand and supply, African content providers are now competing against well-established names in the global media industry who have unlimited access to resources and cutting-edge technology.
The Covid pandemic has worsened the situation by halting the progress of upskilling the African media industry and given rise to the spread of misinformation, mostly over social channels that have become the main source of information for many segments of society. There is a pressing need for journalists and media entrepreneurs to have access to tools that can help them hone their craft and future-proof their home-grown industry.
Based on years of serving the African media industry and becoming a global voice for African content, African Media Agency is creating AMA Academy to serve four key missions: Upskilling journalists and other content providers, helping publishers innovate and better monetize their content, creating a peer-to-peer network, and providing career advancement opportunities to practitioners.
AMA is partnering with recognized experts in the industry and established organizations in the field of media innovation and training to design new modules and adapt existing ones to the local requirements across the continent.
“One of our main objectives has always been to help transfer skills across the continent and grow the media industry in order to advance a home-grown narrative across the continent and globally. AMA Academy comes as a natural evolution to the work we’ve been passionately doing since we established our network,” said Eloïne Barry, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of African Media Agency. “We are grateful for the relationships we’ve forged with our media associates over the years, and we hope that AMA Academy will be the first of many value-based offerings that we can provide across the continent,” she added.
AMA Academy is an accredited program that helps build highly demanded skillsets for those pursuing a career in the media industry. Through tailored training and workshops, the Academy trains media owners and reporters on how to best take advantage of the new technologies being created.
The free courses offered by AMA Academy will be available in Arabic, English, French and Portuguese, and include certification upon completion. These courses include: Innovation and AI, how to monetize the industry and increase financial sustainability, Investigative journalism and critical issues reporting, social media solutions for journalists, and preparing for the future of journalism.
Journalists, bloggers and online publication owners interested in being part of the 2022 cohort can register and find out more here. The registration process runs until 25 March 2022.
