27 Apr 2011
Amman, 27 April 2011 - Earlier this month, Princess Rym Ali received a prestigious Award from the Columbia University School of Journalism. The Alumni Awards are presented annually for a distinguished journalism career, or an outstanding journalistic achievement or a notable contribution to journalism education. The award, which represents recognition of excellence by professional peers, is highly prized and the winners are selected by a panel of jurors composed of previous award winners.
Princess Rym, known as Rym Brahimi when she was a student at Columbia and later on a journalist and correspondent for various media outlets, has launched the Jordan Media Institute (JMI) in Amman, which graduated its first intake of students last March. It has just opened its admissions process for the third intake of MA students and is working on a series of short-term media trainings.
Commenting on the award, Princess Rym said during the ceremony held in Washington: “A lot of what we do at the Jordan Media Institute has been inspired by what I learned in the time I spent at Columbia University and we have tried to adapt the curriculum to fit our needs not only in Jordan but the Middle East region as well. JMI arose from the increasing need for us to cover our own stories or our own backyard.” She added: “We are working on training, hopefully, high level journalists with a solid sense of ethics capable of offering much needed professionalism in covering not only regular society and political issues but also now the fascinating events that are taking place in our region.” She also indicated that JMI’s students have a website (www.aqlamjmi.com) in which they publish their work and various assignments.
Prior to marrying Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, Princess Rym worked extensively for international broadcasters, including CNN, where she began as a producer in 1998 and later worked as a Baghdad correspondent from 2001 until 2004. Before joining the BBC, she developed her portfolio working for Dubai TV, Bloomberg TV, Radio Monte Carlo Moyen-Orient and United Press International. Princess Rym has also served as a commissioner of the Royal Film Commission- Jordan since July 2005.
The Institute was created to try and fill a gap in journalism education, not only in Jordan, but also in the region, by offering a high level, practical program in Arabic, with an emphasis on digital media training, all in one year. Its goal is to offer the best standards of journalistic practice by focusing on the basic principles and practices of journalism such as writing and reporting, ethics and community issues. Students can apply to obtain full scholarships and the MA diploma is granted in affiliation with the University of Jordan.