A Day of Journalism, Media and PR was held at the Ala-Too International University (AIU) with the pre-launch of the first student digital newspaper in Kyrgyzstan “ALA-TOO DAILY”. This media product was created as part of the academic course “Virtual Journalism”. During the 2023-2024 academic year, journalism students learned how to create a digital newspaper based on the most popular web content management system, WordPress. In the world, 64.2% of all websites work on its basis, in particular, such global media as: New York Times, CNN, BBC, Financial Times and others.
Having its own digital platform for publishing multimedia materials is of great importance both for the educational process as well as for the future career of the students of the Journalism program of the AIU. Working on their own virtual newspaper allowed students of the Journalism Department to gain new professional knowledge and practical creative skills in the field of modern virtual journalism.
«Digital platform «ALA-TOO DAILY» provides students with a unique opportunity to develop digital skills, which is a requirement of the time. It also allows them to create their own portfolio, opening up new opportunities for future careers in journalism, media and public relations. I would like to thank the entire team that worked on this project for their hard work,”” – said Rustam Umarov, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs of the AIU.
The event in honor of the pre-launch of the first student digital newspaper in Kyrgyzstan brought together students, teachers and administrative staff of the AIU, in particular the representatives of the Faculty of Humanities, the Journalism and Public Relations and Advertising programs. Well-known journalists and experts in the field of media and communications also came to congratulate AIU on such a significant event, among them were documentary filmmaker Asan Aitikeev, news-anchor Vera Chernikova and legend of the Kyrgyz journalism Alexander Shepelenko.
During the grand opening, the team of creators of the project talked about the mission, goals and future plans of “ALA-TOO DAILY”. Students of the Journalism program made presentations and reports about their experience in creating digital information materials, and students of the new Public Relations and Advertising program held the event itself, providing a report on the scientific and practical work done over the year. Sam Khan, an AIU lecturer and producer of documentaries for the Netflix film company, conducted a thematic lecture master-class on new digital media opportunities.
The laureates of the AIU creative competition for the best article in the digital newspaper “ALA-TOO DAILY”, students Zhibek Sydykova and Mamasadyk kyzy Angelika, made reports on new media technologies, artificial intelligence, podcasts and other multimedia materials. Another laureate, Emir Temirov, spoke about his work on an analytical article on ray tracing, an innovative technology that is actively penetrating the media industry today, opening up new opportunities for high-quality digital narratives. The winners of the competition, senior students of the Journalism program of the AIU Aktan Kubanychbekov, Daria Khan and Azamat Murzabekov presented an environmental journalism report “How the architecture of Bishkek kills the city”.
One of the highlights of the conference was the award ceremony for best student papers in the digital newspaper “ALA-TOO DAILY”. This event highlighted the importance of supporting young talents and their role in the future development of the Kyrgyz media. The prizes were solemnly presented to the winners by the Vice-rector of the AIU for Administrative affairs Seitbek Tillekov, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities Nurlan Ismailov, Head of the Journalism program Aida Abduldayeva, as well as professionals in their field, media experts, lecturers Kubanychbek Taabaldiyev, Nariste Alieva and Zhamby Zhusubalieva.
Vice-Rector Seitbek Tillekov expressed his support for the digital media of AIU students, emphasizing its importance for the entire university community and a wide audience: Working on their own virtual newspaper allowed students of the «Journalism program» to gain new professional knowledge, develop creative and practical skills in creating virtual materials, which, in turn, contributes to the development of students' competitiveness in the market of modern virtual journalism.”
It is worth noting that during the year, under the guidance of media expert Nariste Alieva, journalism students mastered the technique of writing and publishing digital information materials such as news, reports, and also worked on creating detailed multimedia articles on such topics as environmental problems, the development of new technologies and artificial intelligence. During this academic year, students of the Journalism program have published more than 166 information materials.
“I am very glad that AIU hosts such a high-quality events in the field of media. I chose journalism because journalism is a broad concept. There are reporters, there are those who are behind the scenes, for example, those who write articles, and so on. There are TV presenters who are in the spotlight one way or another. But all of these people have one thing in common – the desire to be at the center of information broadcasting. And that's exactly why I chose journalism – I want to be on the front line. The second reason is, of course, the creative side of media, which I really like. The third reason is probably not so important, because the first reason is quite enough for me to enroll in the AIU’s Journalism program.” - said Adiletbek Dzhenishbekov, a student of the Journalism program.
Creation of the digital newspaper is an important step in the development of the student press not only for the AIU, but also for the whole of Kyrgyzstan. Today,“ALA-TOO DAILY” is working in test mode. Starting from the new academic year, a permanent editorial board of the newspaper will be formed, which will become a daily source of relevant news and information and analytical materials. Thus, “ALA-TOO DAILY” will become the first and so far, the only digital student web-platform in Kyrgyzstan to cover current academic and public topics in Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia and around the world. In turn, the Day of Journalism, Media, and PR will become an annual reporting event for students of the Departments of Journalism, Public Relations, and Advertising
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