Institute for Media Training and Research
About us
Providing an interactive platform for media practitioners and students in Lebanon and the region, the IMTR offers leading training programs and coordinates research projects in journalism, film, communication studies, PR and advertising. As part of LAU's effort to improve the environment in which it operates, the institute actively seeks to promote a more ethical and professional media practice and a better understanding of the field.
Recent activities
February-August 2011: Research on the Lebanese youth reception of the Egyptian revolt
IMTR researchers planned and executed a longitudinal survey analyzing the reception of the Egyptian revolt among 400 Lebanese university students. The study examined media consumption patterns among the study population and the effect of these patterns on students' perception of the revolt in terms of framing and narrative construction. Documenting the effect of the first fully-mediated revolution in an environment where media production and consumption patterns are changing as we speak, the survey revealed three different frames of the event –mainly mediated by social identification: the social, the religious and the media-related. It also suggested a relationship between the first and those who watched Arab news channels and the last and those who followed the news on YouTube.
April 2011: Training session in media and gender for female Iraqi journalists, in cooperation with the Institute for Women Studies in the Arab World (IWSAW)
The IMTR and the Institute for Women Studies in the Arab World hosted a week-long media and gender training program designed to empower ten female journalists from Ninewa, providing them with intensive courses in journalism and gender relations. Gender scholars and renowned media professionals trained participants about journalistic practices and technology in Lebanon and helped assist them in coping with the challenges of working in a largely male-dominated field. Topics included investigative journalism, interviewing skills, ethics, cultural journalism, new media, gender representation on television and the challenges faced by women in the field.
Upcoming projects:
- Training of trainers with Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism
- Research on the Lebanese media and their potential role in fostering the zai’m culture