Speech

Mr
Ayman  El Sayyad

Journalist & Chief Editor "Weghat Nazar"

Biography:

Ayman Al-Sayyad is currently the Editor-in-Chief of "Weghat Nazar" Magazine – a leading intellectual affairs and book review publication in the Arab world, of which he had served as the Managing Editor since 2000. Prior to that, he served as the Regional Managing Editor and Cairo-Bureau Chief of the Pan-Arab, London-based weekly magazine “Al-Majalla,” between 1991 and 1998 after having worked as its Cairo correspondent since the beginning of his journalistic career in 1983. During his tenure as Al-Majalla’s Cairo-Bureau Chief he managed to place the Cairo Bureau at the forefront of all Al-Majalla's regional offices. In 1995, he was awarded The Ali & Othman Hafiz Award for Best Story in the Arab Press. Mr. Al-Sayyad initially pursued medical studies—completing four years—before shifting to the study of Mass Communication and completing a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication from Cairo University in 1983. He independently studied Information Technology and worked, alongside his journalistic career, as an IT consultant for the Cairo office of the Saudi Research and Publishing Company (publisher of Ashraq-al-Awsat daily newspaper, Al Majalla and other influential publications), where he developed the automations plans and technical solutions necessary to computerize editorial operations. Additionally, he also managed the monthly Computer Supplement of ''Al-Majalla'' magazine during 1994. Mr. Al-Sayyad is also an award-winning professional photographer, receiving several prestigious recognitions, including The Kodak Bronze Medal for professional photographers (1987), The Mustafa Amin Award for best press-photo depicting motherhood (1989) and The BMW Award for best photo in the Middle East Press (1989). Subsequently, in 1995, he served alongside a select number of distinguished media figures as member of the Jury of The BMW Award for Photojournalism in the Middle East. A collection of his photos were chosen by UNICEF to visually illustrate themes of its "Facts of Life" initiative, and were published in the regional version of the initiative’s promotional book, which was among UNICEF’s most widely used publications in the nineties. He had provided editorial and technical consultancy services and contributed to the development of a number of Arab Media Institutions including "The Emirates Media Institution" and the leading electronic news website “Aljazeera.net.” He currently provides consultancy services to the number of regional and international non-profit organizations including “The International Center for Journalists ICFJ” and the “Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Foundation” for knowledge; the Foundation aims to develop the knowledge and human capabilities of the Arab World, to introduce a future generation of regional leaders. Since its establishment, Mr. Al-Sayyad has served as one of the Advisory Board and an Executive Consultant of "The Heikal Foundation for Arab Journalism" - a public service trust fund dedicated to the development of the profession established by Mohamed Hassanin Heikal, the most prominent Arab journalist and political analyst in recent decades.

Status: Confirmed