The storyteller is the world's most powerful
Although it’s the shortest month of the year, February can feel like a long month (you know, cold, rain, and not enough sunshine, and deadlines, oh so many deadlines), but as we promised you, here’s another installment of our monthly newsletter. We have received great feedback on our inaugural newsletter, and we couldn't be more excited that it has resonated with so many of you.
In this edition, we are keeping you updated with our latest work in the field of storytelling and media development and sharing with you informative trends and tips.
Whether its videography or photography, infographics or illustrations, we are here to work with you to help you tell stories with impact because we are true believers in the power of the story, and as the late Steve Jobs eloquently said: "The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller."
Best wishes,
Rana F. Sweis
Founder of WishBox Media
What we have been up to
As a media services company, we feel that lately, there has been an uptake in investment in media training and telling better stories.
During the past few months, we worked with the International Labor Organization (ILO), where we provided them with a range of media services, including images, videos, and interviews. We also supported them in writing a feature and two press releases.
The feature highlighted the importance of launching infrastructure development projects that provide employment opportunities in disadvantaged communities hosting Syrian refugees. It also highlighted a project that focused on training entrepreneurial women on how to obtain a grant to support their future projects.Meanwhile, the first press release we worked on was about a project that bolsters livelihoods by supporting cultural heritage in three areas in Mafraq, providing jobs for young men and women and Syrian refugees. While the second press release focused on celebrating entrepreneurial women who have received a grant from the ILO to support their projects.
In February, we published reports highlighting the social coexistence between Syrians and Jordanians in the labor and education sectors.
The reports were produced in cooperation with the French Agency for Media Development and Cooperation (CFI) under the umbrella of the “Qudra 2” program.
The media reports were the result of a training workshop for a group of 12 journalists and filmmakers in Irbid Governorate who joined the seminar to bolster their knowledge of writing stories with human interest.
Among the projects produced during this workshop was a story about a Syrian-Jordanian initiative that delves into the challenges of seeking asylum.
Another was about a woman who got heavily involved in vocational training and managed to lunch a career despite using a wheelchair for mobility.
Another project that came to life due to the training was a movie dubbed Abyah that brought together talented Syrian and Jordanian youth.
Journalists working on telling stories with human interest as part of a Wishbox Media project in collaboration with the French media development agency, CFI. Live Talks: Our live talk this month featured digital marketing expert Deeb Ghanma who demystified the AI tools that we have heard a lot about lately. He also told us whether AI would steal our jobs or not! Live Talks is a monthly program where we offer our audience in the Arab world and beyond both insight and knowledge on digital media and how it impacts their lives. Occasionally, we also take our audience behind the scenes and discuss how stories are produced. Our show is often broadcast live either on Facebook or Instagram.
🎧 You can listen to an excerpt from the conversation with Deeb Ghanma below:
In the pipeline
Art exhibition and book launch: Mark your calendar for an upcoming exhibition in Amman on March 14. The exhibition displays the works of artists trained by Wisbox Media and renowned cartoonist Omar Abdallat with the support of Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Additionally, we will publish a book that will introduce the artists and feature their work. We will also organize a roundtable discussion on the challenges of art creation in Jordan.
New website: Stay tuned. We are putting the final touches on our brand new website. Our slick, updated website will display our work more visually and make it easier for you to contact us. We can't wait to hear from you!
From the archive
We love infographics! Here are some infographics we produced in collaboration with Sadaqa, a Jordanian NGO advocating for a friendlier work environment for women and families through daycare provision to increase female economic participation. The infographics we produced for Sadaqa highlighted the importance of nurseries for the emotional growth and development of children.
Our offerings
One of our core offerings at Wishbox Media is organizing training workshops for media professionals, journalists, and content creators.
We have run dozens of workshops in different regions in Jordan, including; Irbid, Jerash, Amman, and Zarqa.
Here is an example of one workshop we organized on how to write a news story.
If you or your organization need a media or communications workshop, please drop us a note. We would love to hear from you and discuss your ideas.
Our media consumption
We have been geeking out lately on writing engaging Instagram captions. We did a lot of research and went down the rabbit hole. Here are some tips:
Determine the length - sometimes more is less, but not always.
Add emojis
Use hashtags
Bring in the element of engagement
Have you ever considered writing an op-ed and publishing it in media outlets across the world? The OpEd project tells you how to do so. They provide tips and tricks and pitching advice.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this month’s installment of Wishbox Media newsletter. ☺️ Remember that we are all ears, so please feel free to drop us a note with your feedback, suggestions, and collaboration ideas. We are listening. Always listening.