CNN Arabic’s Her Story initiative launches second podcast training
Training was conducted virtually by Samya Ayish, CNN Arabic journalist, producer and editor of Her Story
Updated 12 May 2022
Arab News
LONDON: CNN Arabic’s Her Story initiative launched its second podcast training session on Wednesday aimed at female journalists and content creators from Arab countries.
Training was conducted virtually by Samya Ayish, CNN Arabic journalist, producer and editor of Her Story, in partnership with the Arab Network for Science and Journalism.
Different types of audio content, script writing, recording, montage and publishing were covered in the program, which focused on podcasting.
The training session, attended by 40 Arab female journalists from the region, began with a brief speech by Caroline Faraj, vice president and editor-in-chief of CNN Arabic, followed by a speech from Ahmed Al-Shamir, president of the Arab Network for Scientific Journalism.
Following the session, participants were able to pitch proposals and ideas for possible stories, with the winning ideas to be commissioned and published on the CNN Arabic Her Story page.
Her Story, or Hikayatoha in Arabic, is a multi-platform editorial and training initiative that profiles Arab women creating an impact in their local communities.
The initiative was launched on March 8, International Women’s Day, to offer Arab women a high-profile platform to share their untold stories, and voice their thoughts and opinions.
In addition to the editorial feature, CNN Arabic also launched the first edition of a special training program for young women starting careers in journalism, content production and storytelling.
LONDON: Few cultural imports have crossed borders as unexpectedly, or as powerfully, as Grendizer, the Japanese giant robot that half a century ago became a childhood hero across the Arab world, nowhere more so than in Saudi Arabia.
Created in Japan in the mid-1970s by manga artist Go Nagai, Grendizer was part of the “mecha” tradition of giant robots. The genre was shaped by Japan’s experience during the Second World War, and explored themes of invasion, resistance and loss through the medium of science fiction.
But while the series enjoyed moderate success in Japan, its true legacy was established thousands of kilometers away in the Middle East.
By the early 1980s, “Grendizer” had spread across the Middle East, inspiring fandoms in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and beyond. (Supplied)
The anime “UFO Robot Grendizer” arrived on television in the region in 1979, dubbed into Arabic and initially broadcast in Lebanon during the Lebanese civil war. The story it told of the heroic Duke Fleed, a displaced prince whose planet had been destroyed by alien invaders, struck a chord with children growing up amid regional conflict and occupation by Israel.
Its themes of defending one’s homeland, standing up to aggression and protecting the innocent were painfully relevant in the region, transforming the series from mere entertainment into a kind of emotional refuge.
Much of the show’s impact came from its successful Arabization. The powerful Arabic dubbing and emotionally charged voice-acting, especially by Lebanese actor Jihad El-Atrash as Duke Fleed, lent the show a moral gravity unmatched by other cartoons of the era.
While the series enjoyed moderate success in Japan, its true legacy was established thousands of kilometers away in the Middle East. (Supplied)
The theme song for the series, performed by Sami Clark, became an anthem that the Lebanese singer continued to perform at concerts and festivals right up until his death in 2022.
By the early 1980s, “Grendizer” had spread across the Middle East, inspiring fandoms in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and beyond. For many, it was not only their first exposure to anime, it also delivered lessons on values such as justice and honor.
Grendizer was so influential in the region that it became the subject of scholarly research, which in addition to recognizing the ways in which the plight of the show’s characters resonated with the audience in the Middle East, also linked the show’s popularity to generational memories of displacement, particularly the Palestinian Nakba.
By the early 1980s, “Grendizer” had spread across the Middle East, inspiring fandoms in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and beyond. (Supplied)
Half a century later, “Grendizer” remains culturally alive and relevant in the region. In Saudi Arabia, which embraced the original version of the show wholeheartedly, Manga Productions is now introducing a new generation of fans to a modernized version of the character, through a video game, The Feast of The Wolves, which is available in Arabic and eight other languages on platforms including PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch, and a new Arabic-language anime series, “Grendizer U,” which was broadcast last year.
Fifty years after the debut of the show, “Grendizer” is back — although to a generation of fans of the original series, their shelves still full of merchandise and memorabilia, it never really went away.
