Exploring the world of Journalism: BBS students visit Kuwait Times, Kuwait News
A newsroom is where ideas are born, stories are crafted and global events are disseminated to the public. Unlocking the gates of this vibrant world, Kuwait Times and Kuwait News welcomed students of Al-Bayan Bilingual School (BBS) for a visit on Monday, providing them with an exclusive look into the departments and functions of the newspaper.
Sharifa, one of the students, expressed her enthusiasm about the visit. “As soon as I walked in, I felt very excited about seeing how the news that I read every day whether on social media or newspapers is originally created,” she said. Student Ahmad, who aims to be part of a publishing house in the future, echoed her words. “It was a spectacular experience, as I enjoyed learning what’s behind the scenes of generating news, in addition to all the skills and jobs that are needed to build such a successful entity.”
Starting with the archives, students learned more about Kuwait Times’ rich heritage through its more than 62 years of documenting significant local and worldwide news, whose impact remains until this day. For instance, travelling back to 1982, students were shown how an event such as the World Cup was covered, and in 2005, they came across a life-changing event when women were given the right to vote in elections for the first time in Kuwait.
Moving to the editorial section, which is the core of Kuwait Times, students explored the process of gathering and writing news and the different roles needed to bring it to light, such as reporting, editing, proofreading and designing. With the constant evolution of the newspaper’s technologies and people’s skills, Kuwait Times showed them how this has transformed the way of shaping news, from just simply black-and-white papers to tailoring news for all modern digital channels.
By seeing a printing press for the first time, students were also informed about the traditional process of printing the newspaper, from the moment of adding the ink until folding the paper and distributing it to people’s doorsteps. Finally, regarding content production, they toured the studio where all Kuwait Times’ reels and videos are created regularly. They were engaged in the technical and creative process of generating visually appealing and interactive content, as they learned how this area in particular counts as one of the current priorities of the newspaper to attract future generations.