Dubai, UAE, June 11, 2018 – Ford Middle East and Africa has welcomed two Saudi female journalists into the world of automotive journalism as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia begins its countdown to the lifting of the ban on women driving.

Layan Damanhouri from English daily Saudi Gazette and Nawal Turki AlJabr, head of the Ladies’ Section at Al Riyadh Arabic daily and seasoned radio presenter, spent two days at Ford Middle East’s headquarters in Dubai learning new skills with Ford’s Product Development and Engineering teams, and Ford’s storytelling team at the Content Factory.

“This is a historic moment and a unique opportunity to encourage women to become involved in an exciting career move,” said Sue Nigoghossian, General manager, MENA Communications at Ford. “Excellent automotive writing thrives on the independent views of well-informed journalists – and we’re excited to help these two female journalists find their voice and listen to their unique take on the motoring industry.”

The two journalists learned about the features and technologies they would need to look for when evaluating and test driving a vehicle; how best to write their stories in an engaging way; and how to create compelling car photography.

Layan Damanhouri said, “It’s been a very enjoyable and enlightening experience to learn about the different aspects of automotive journalism particularly in what goes on in media trips, test drives, storytelling, writing, and photography.”

“What I liked about this introductory program is learning about the basics of a car from the experts,” Damanhouri added. “From the journalism side, it’s great to learn from former journalists and communications professionals about what distinguishes quality automotive journalism. For me it was a good start to serve my curiosity and inspired me to study some references such as magazines, Instagram accounts, and TV programs afterwards. It’s a great initiative because it gives insight to journalism as well as public relations in the auto industry.”