Al Jazeera organizes 2022 Internship Appreciation Event

Al Jazeera Media Network’s Human Resources & Administration Division hosted its 2022 Internship Appreciation event. The first of its kind, the event was organized to showcase the success and uniqueness of the Network’s internship program.

Among the guests were this year’s interns, Al Jazeera journalists and employees who mentored them, and representatives from Qatar University, Northwestern University Qatar, Carnegie Mellon University Qatar, University of Doha for Science and Technology, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, and Qatar Foundation. 

Faisal Aroub, Head of Learning Delivery, and Amila Karic, Sr. Specialist–Learning, from HR & Administration Division welcomed the guests. “We are here because this is a great internship year!”, Amila said, and continued with acknowledging efforts and contributions of all who are helping to make Al Jazeera’s internship a lasting, rich, and diverse experience.

Dr. Noora Fetais, Associate Professor at Qatar University’s College of Engineering, Beatrice Zemelyte, intern and senior at the Northwestern University – Qatar, and Abdul Kareem Aouir, Senior Producer in Digital Division and internship mentor, shared their own impressions and experiences.

A keynote speaker at the event was Fahad Badar, a Qatari mountaineer and outdoor enthusiast.  He is the first Arab male to climb two of the highest mountains in the world, Mount Everest and Mount Lhotse, in a single expedition. In 2021, Fahad endured severe frostbite while on a climb of the K2 mountain, and suffered a loss of fingers in his hands. In his speech, Fahad spoke about his adventures, persistence, and the preparation needed to meet the challenges of his mountaineering, including his successful return to K2 in July this year. “If you want to do true amazing things, you need to prepare. And, one of the things you learn by your internship is (that) if you prepare, everything becomes easy”, he said.

The Internship program in Al Jazeera has been running for years; every one of the Network’s divisions have hosted at least one intern at some point. The program evolved through time, and usually 250-300 interns would earn their training and work experience every year.  The COVID-19 and pandemic years 2020 and 2021 challenged these numbers somewhat and brought a shift to remote internships.

In 2022, in-person internships are back in full swing. Since the start of the year, 145 interns came to Al Jazeera on their voluntary and academic internships. On average, they spent 2 months and were mentored by 95 of colleagues in core business, technology and broadcast, and supporting functions. 60% of interns are from Qatar. All came from 34 different nationalities, and are either studying or have recently graduated from 67 universities in 20 countries around the world.