Al-Multaqa is being held remotely and concludes today
Arab media leaders discuss transitions in times of crisis
Participants in the forum during the remote session. Emirates today
General Security of the League of Arab States: Ahmed Abul Gheit.
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The activities of the Seventh Arab Media Leaders Forum, entitled: “Media Transformations in Times of Crisis,” were launched the day before yesterday, through the Arab media website from a distance, and under the auspices of the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Abul-Gheit, and the forum extends until today.
A number of Arab information ministers, media professionals, writers and journalists participated in the first session of the forum, including the Minister of Information in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Ali Al-Rumaihi, the Minister of Information in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Amjad Al-Adayleh, the Minister of Information of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Osama Heikal, and the Minister of Information in the Sultanate of Oman, Dr. Abdel Moneim. Al-Hasani, Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the Media and Communication Sector at the League of Arab States, Dr. Qais Al-Azzawi, and the President of the Arab States Broadcasting Union, Muhammad Al-Awash.
The session was opened by the Secretary-General of the Arab Media Forum, last Thursday, announcing that it was live through the accounts of the Arab Media Forum: (Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram), and he presented a recorded speech at the beginning of the meeting to Abu Al-Gheit, who recorded a speech specifically to be broadcast in the meeting, and confirmed Abul-Gheit said that the multiplicity and purposeful diversity in digital media platforms in particular made the recipient vulnerable to a torrent of news that included the real and the false, including those that spread the public interest along with what seeks to destroy the world, which led to the transformation of the media into a major industry of great complexity in forming awareness And public opinion.
He added, "We have seen countries seeking to harness the technological revolution and influence the world, as well as electronic platforms and various means to influence social media to push them in the directions they aim to."
Abul-Gheit stressed the importance of credibility and professionalism, describing it as the most important weapons for the Arab media at this stage in which wars are taking place on cyberspace with the same force as battles in the fields of war.
He added that some may be deceived by the false information, but in the end the recipient realizes the honest platforms, stressing that adhering to credibility is a guarantee of expelling those platforms, regardless of the demand for them, adding that media institutions must keep pace with development, strengthening the skills of media professionals and arming them with the tools of contemporary media.
For his part, Bahraini Minister of Information, Ali Al-Rumaihi, said that there is no doubt that the new media has become a reality that must be dealt with, indicating that official media institutions are using this new media and are responsible for the speed in using this method.
He stressed that the best solution to rumors is that news and information from official sources take precedence, saying: “We need to be close to the event and communicate with the public to issue the correct information,” explaining that everyone working today in the traditional, official or private media sector He has become in the first global ranks to deal with this exceptional circumstance, the "Corona pandemic", along with the security men.
Al-Rumaihi recommended that a distinction should be made between media institutions and social media, as there are those who say that they are not by means of media and that they are merely means of communication and that social media cannot be controlled through a media institution, pointing to the importance of promoting the culture of verifying news before it is published from school through Teaching media education in schools, for example.
Jordanian Minister of Information, Amjad Al-Adaileh, said that discussing the issue of "media transformations in times of crisis" is one of the most important issues that we need to discuss in light of the Corona crisis, stressing that the media needs to increase the level of coordination between countries to avoid more risks.
Al-Adaileh pointed out that the most prominent shift today is the shift to social media, and the public’s reliance on them more than the official and unofficial media, saying: “There is no doubt that you realize that rumors abound in times of crisis, which requires careful handling.”
The Egyptian Minister of Information, Osama Heikal, said that we are in a completely different year in the era of realistic new media that imposed itself on us, and which has not been fully absorbed in recent years, but we are now obliged to fully accommodate it.
Heikal continued in his speech during the forum: “We are facing a difficult reality because the media depends on credibility, professionalism, and verification before anything, but the new media has become quick to communicate information, and the media has made the world and the ignorant a source of information, and the recipient has become a basic partner in information.” .
He summarized the structure of the steps with which we can keep pace with the developments in the media industry in making an Arab media honor pact that includes modern Arab media as a guide, stressing that modern media cannot prevent it and there are some groups resorting to the work of electronic brigades to carry out specific assassinations, which is a crime that requires legal action , Adding: "During the past years, we were shocked that there is a use of networks by publishing videos offensive to some of the characters or using Photoshop to harm a certain personality, so we need a code of honor and a guiding model for the public to realize the danger of the existence of cyberspace without there being any standards."
For his part, the Omani Minister of Information, Dr. Abdul Moneim Al-Hasani, said that without a doubt the media bears a very large part of the current crisis, explaining: “We are facing a great knowledge revolution led by the citizen through social media sites who present the message and sends it to the recipient, and he is no longer just a recipient, he has become a message maker. This puts the media in front of major challenges ».
He continued: "The crisis taught us to take responsibility in leading the media scene and setting priorities for what you offer to your audience, as well as preventing rumors that lead to very dangerous things."
In turn, the Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the Media and Communication Sector of the League of Arab States, Dr. Qais Al-Azzawi, confirmed that the world is facing a pandemic that it has not previously experienced in this way, saying: “At the present time we have found ourselves facing many challenges for the media in the whole world, not just the Arab world, We are facing a conflict between social media networks and traditional media, and rumors have emerged that terrified the public, and the traditional media had to confront them, and they succeeded in confronting the rumors and correcting the errors that occurred with the help of experts.
Al-Azzawi announced that in the League of States a daily bulletin and a weekly newsletter were issued in addition to the formation of a special observatory to follow up the numbers of patients in countries of the world and the Arab countries, following up: “We asked the media staff at the League of States to study experiences in facing the epidemic, and we covered 22 courses in terms of precautionary measures and how they faced These countries are the epidemic, and all this we have collected and will be issued in a book that mentions the experiences of nations in facing the epidemic after making contacts with Arab countries.
The head of the Arab States Broadcasting Union, Muhammad Al-Awash, said that during the pandemic, the union held more than 17 seminars and conferences to raise awareness of the role of the media. He explained that the media institutions in the Arab world were distinguished by following up the news and being transparent in following up the crisis, through studies conducted by the Arab and Asian Broadcasting Union, praising the experiences of Arab countries that were accepted by those European federations in particular.
Ahmed Abul Gheit:
• «The media has turned into a major industry that is extremely complex in forming awareness and public opinion.
• "Credibility and professionalism are the most important for the Arab media at this stage."