AMIDEAST Students visit the Yemen Times Premises [Archives:2007/1056/Local News]
Mohialdeen Alotumi
Sana'a, May 31 ) The Yemen Times received a number of AMIDEAST EFL students in Sana'a branch. The students came along with their teacher Mr. Mohialdeen A-lOtumi so as to explore the news paper premises and media working environment and learn about how newspapers work.
Raidan Al-Saqqaf, of the Yemen Times staff, welcomed the students and presented a brief lecture in which he explained the concept of democracy development in Yemen, mentioning the different stages the country went through. Further, he has drawn students' attention to the fact that democracy in Yemen wasn't born in one day but it is a continuous struggle
Additionally, he elaborated on the history of Yemen Times, which is the first English newspaper in the country and the only independent English-language newspaper in the country, highlighting the stages the paper goes through so as to reach the reader. “Publishing a news paper is not an easy task. On the contrary, it requires continuous hard work within difficult circumstances.” He added.
Focusing on the current affairs of the country, the managing editor, asserted, to AMIDEAST students, that the Yemen Times is the only impartial and unbiased paper in the country, hinting that the most other papers which reach the Yemeni audiance, whether opposition or governmental, receive funds from the concerned bodies while the Yemen Times' main support is its readers and the ads it publishes.After the presentation, Alsaqqaf toured the students in the premises to familiarize them with what's going inside the paper main building.
The tour started with the editorial section, where news items are written, translated, and editted. Then, students were toured to the design and layout section, where paper's graphical designs and layouts are put together. Finally, Alsaqqaf guided them to the Printing section, where the 15 thousand copies of the newspaper are printed on paper.
Within the presentation and the tour, students have great chance to openly ask Raidan any questions about how to use the paper to improve their English, about the current Yemeni politics, and about the stance of the paper regarding the current affairs.
Reflecting their impressions, students expressed their delight and happiness that they had given this chance to tour the paper which they often read so as to improve their English as well as their knowledge about every day happenings.
They expressed their gratefulness to the Mr. Al-Saqqaf, who cordially welcomed them, to the Amideast represented by their teacher Mohialdeen Alotumi, AMIDEAST EFL instructor, and Ms. Elham, the academic coordinator in Amideast, who supported the idea by providing good guide and feedback.
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