The Centre for Excellence in Journalism (CEJ) and RINSTRA Technologies Pvt. Ltd. signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work together to build students’ digital storytelling skills. This agreement will enable digital skills through interactive workshops, seminars, and courses, with RINSTRA providing its state-of-the-art platform for digital docu-film festivals and theme-based video competitions.
Speaking on the occasion, Kamal Siddiqi, Director of the Center for Excellence in Journalism at the Institute of Business Administration (CEJ-IBA) said, “this partnership with Rinstra will help our students test their digital storytelling ideas and creative expressions. We are hoping to generate new ideas around social challenges and economic opportunities with Rinstra through content competitions and documentary film festivals. This will be a great opportunity for the creative minds at CEJ and its alumni of more than 2000 professionals associated with us to create a new genre of media-entrepreneurship in the country.”
Dr. Adil Akhtar, Co-founder and Chairman of RINSTRA in his message said, “through this collaboration, CEJ-IBA and RINSTRA will create short-form storytelling techniques i.e. movies, dramas, music videos, theater, documentaries and videos for RINSTRA and other digital platforms.” He further said, “RINSTRA is the gateway for Pakistani content and talent to the local and international media markets and digital platforms. Rising stars on iRINSTRA are promoted on the main RINSTRA platform that will open-up global opportunities for the creative minds in the country and beyond.” The state-of-the-art RINSTRA platform allows content creators to discover, create, showcase, and monetize their content creation and creative pursuits.
Amir Jahangir, Chief Executive Officer RINSTRA said, “this partnership is important to enable young storytellers to be equipped with digital skills that can help them sustain their creative pursuits and economic wellbeing. RINSTRA has a vision to create 1,000,000 content creators in the next five years, that can create a new digital creative economy surpassing US$ 150 million in the country.”
As per the details of the MoU, both organizations will work on improving digital storytelling techniques and creative thinking in students, helping them look at issues and challenges around them from a narrative perspective. The organizations also agreed to create research opportunities in the space of MediaTech. This will enable the students to find new work opportunities in the content industry, including RINSTRA.com as a potential future work partner, encouraging students of CEJ-IBA for global media-entrepreneurship endeavors.
The Centre for Excellence in Journalism (CEJ) is an initiative for the professional development, training and networking of Pakistani journalists and media professionals. CEJ is a collaboration between the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), and the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
CEJ is based at IBA’s City Campus in Karachi. It offers online and in-person training modules for journalists and media professionals from all parts of Pakistan. Eminent international and local journalists conduct hands-on, skills-based courses geared towards meeting the needs of Pakistani newsrooms. The Centre is closely linked with the Pakistani news media industry and works under an advisory board comprising Pakistan’s most prominent and experienced editors and media professionals. News directors and editors from newsrooms across Pakistan assign staff to each module at CEJ. Independent journalists and media professionals are also invited to participate. The CEJ actively hosts talks and panel discussions that are free and open to the journalism community. The Centre’s permanent location is on the fourth floor in the new Aman Tower at IBA City Campus. In addition to classroom and office spaces, the CEJ area includes a working broadcast studio and state-of-the-art multimedia lab and editing suites for the participants. The lab offers journalists a chance to learn practical skills in a real newsroom environment where they have access to the latest technologies and resources. CEJ is made possible through a grant from the U.S. Department of State.
RINSTRA is the outcome of the thought leadership of Dice Foundation USA’s Creative Arts and Media Initiative (DICE CAM). It is part of Dice Foundation’s National Innovation Basket (NIB) program, which aims to create media as a corner stones of Pakistan’s growth strategy. RINSTRA is Pakistan’s first short-form digital media platform for on-demand streaming and for creation of user generated original content on iRINSTRA. The organization provides entrepreneurship opportunities to emerging and established content creators and film makers in Pakistan and beyond. RINSTRA gives content creators access to a large Pakistani community around the globe, and ithas been able to create a unique platform that offers dramas and films, while enabling users to generate their own content on the same platform. It also has a feature for Content Competition where, more than 100 academic institutions in Pakistan are competing on various thematic areas. The Fest feature of the application has provided some of the leading Film Festivals to partner with RINSTRA for digital viewing of their films and documentaries. This has created an unprecedented experience for viewers in the country.