KUWAIT, March 15 (KUNA) — Arab media must address the challenges of the ever-shifting technological landscape to bring accurate, timely, and reliable news, said Director General of Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) Dr. Fatma Al-Salem on Wednesday.
Speaking at a seminar on the challenges facing Arab media in the era of technological revolution — an event organized by Kuwait University (KU) and Information Ministry — Dr. Al-Salem said that official and organized media must take heed of their social role as bringers of truths and spreaders of social awareness.
KUNA, for instance, launched last December an extensive campaign against illicit drugs and narcotics in utter conviction of its media role in the process of combating drugs, she revealed.
Taking notice of public opinion online might provide media outlets with a general idea of what people want to read, watch, or hear, Dr. Al-Salem noted, adding that online media was an ever-growing sphere that require focus and attention on part of regular media outlets.
She went on saying that dealing with news via social media had changed the game completely, requiring from journalists and media personnel to acquire some new skills to follow up on developments and write news.
Providing his input to the seminar, head of Egypt’s Supreme Council for Media Regulation, Karam Jabr said dealing with the ever-changing media was necessary; otherwise, many outlets would be left behind.
Having a balance of meeting the public demand and pursuing objective journalism are very hard to achieve, but Arab media must seek this path to win the trust of the people, he affirmed.
He called for preparing future journalists, especially university graduates, to meet the demands of the new media to usher in the new age of trustworthy and reliable journalism. (end) slm.ays.gta
Source: Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)