On Sunday, young journalists from the ORIENT website held a seminar, "Fundamentals of Modern Journalism," at the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (UIET) building on Turkmenbashi Avenue in Ashgabat.

The speakers were young journalists Seyli Aryshov and Enedzhan Kepbanova. They are also the initiators and main organizers of the joint event with the Young Entrepreneurs Center of the Ashgabat City Committee of the UIET.

This is the second meeting hosted by Seyli and Enedzhan. The first took place here, at the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, exactly two months ago.

The organizers of the previous seminar, the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, considering the interest in the topic among the masterclass participants, proposed continuing such meetings. And since the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs is busy even on weekends, and the event schedule is booked months in advance, the next workshop for journalists and aspiring entrepreneurs was decided to be held at the end of March.

By a happy coincidence, this date coincided with the birthday of the MEDIA TURKMEN news agency, which also saw the launch of the ORIENT website, part of the agency.

On the eve of the seminar, the organizers published an announcement, which was also responded to by journalism students from several universities. The most representative group was a group of future journalists – students from the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.

This is entirely appropriate, as it is crucial for current students, and future journalists, to participate more frequently in workshops to enhance their professional literacy.

In total, the seminar brought together young people from various fields – students, high school students, teachers, young entrepreneurs, and those planning to pursue a career in business. The audience turned out to be quite diverse. But why?

Today, the information space is open to everyone. Journalism is no longer the preserve of professionals who, as was common in earlier times, received the appropriate education, knowledge, and practical skills. And today, anyone can join the ranks of writers and global heralds by creating a personal online profile, launching a blog, or developing a website.

On the one hand, this is fraught with danger—random people pollute the information space with useless (and sometimes even harmful) information. But on the other hand, it provides an opportunity for capable individuals to share information that is beneficial to many and to society as a whole.

Among the latter are a host of young professionals, unknown but promising scientists, innovative entrepreneurs with innovative ideas and new business models, and so on. But many of them would benefit from learning how to properly formulate and justify their ideas and plans.

We live in the era of the "attention economy," where information literacy has become as basic a skill as reading and arithmetic were once. The ability to work with content according to the rules of professional journalism is now essential for promoting new approaches and developments, and for entrepreneurs, it's crucial for the survival and preservation of their personal brand and business. Having an idea isn't enough; you need the talent to convey its value to stakeholders.

Correctly presenting information builds trust with partners (and not just in commerce), which is more valuable than direct advertising. It's essential to understand the principles and master the skill of expressing complex, innovative ideas in plain English. This provides tremendous opportunities for promoting your plans and reduces the time spent on negotiations and internal communications.

In the age of neural networks, information has become abundant and rapid, and its reliability is invaluable. After all, in an era of proliferation of fake news, not everyone can distinguish the "wheat" from the chaff of disinformation. The need to combat this and how to distinguish between reliable information and pure fiction were among the topics of the seminar.

Along with determining the authenticity of facts, the meeting also addressed other pressing journalism issues. Particular emphasis was placed on effectively communicating information about the activities of young entrepreneurs to the audience.

Shamammed Annayev, coordinator of the Center for Young Entrepreneurs, spoke highly of the event, particularly noting its educational and informative aspects. He also emphasized the fact that independent websites like ORIENT provide their platforms for covering current issues related to the development of the Turkmen business community. According to Shamammed Annayev, these platforms should be more actively used to promote their own developments, as well as the work of freelancers, independent experts, and companies.

The ORIENT website contains a wealth of information on economic topics, providing analysis of modern economic processes, detailing trends, and strongly supporting public-private partnerships.

Bekdurdy Amansaryev, Director of the MEDIA TURKMEN information agency and Editor-in-Chief of the ORIENT website, concluded the seminar, noting the mutual benefit and complementarity of such meetings, where both sides learn from each other.

Moving from local challenges to the regional context, the expert emphasized that it is currently promising to highlight topics such as the new stage in Central Asia's development, where mutual understanding and trust between states is growing. This allows all five countries to promote the region's shared interests on global platforms.

"In recent years, we have seen a process of coordinating the national development plans of each Central Asian state with consideration for the region's development," the expert said. "This approach has a beneficial impact on the prosperity of the entire region. This, in turn, is reflected in the strengthening of the interconnectedness of the adjacent macroregions—Central and South Asia—as an important element of global security, peace, and sustainable development."

This opens up promising prospects for business communities not only for intraregional cooperation but also with neighboring regions. These trends, according to the speaker, could become the topics of training seminars, encompassing a broader international economic context.

Such training lectures and workshops have already become a tradition for the ORIENT website. For example, Bekdurdy Amansaryev held a lecture with young journalists on the eve of the Third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries. The goal was to share experience, consistently laying out the foundations of prompt and high-quality coverage of major international events.

Following this, a meeting was held to deepen theoretical knowledge and develop skills in applying theory in practice. This master class was broadcast online to specialized Turkmen universities. A training seminar was also held for young employees of the State Protocol.

During the current meeting at the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the discussion of the topics was also engaging. Participants asked questions, which were answered with comprehensive answers. The organizers presented commemorative gifts to the most active participants.

But the debates weren't limited to the allotted hour and a half – discussions continued inside and outside the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs building.