Arab forum looks to distill the future for regional media

Media in the region will be the centre of focus during the eighth Arab Media Forum's sessions and workshops to be held on May 11-12 at Atlantis Hotel in Dubai. The sessions will be under the title "Arab media: weathering a period of change and crisis", and will take up a host of issues concerning the media in the region and outside, ranging from the impact of the global financial crisis on the media and the failure of business journalism to diagnose the symptoms of the crisis in advance, to the mushrooming of fatwa programmes on television and the coverage of the war on Gaza. Dubai Press Club authorities, as organisers of the events, are bringing to the forefront the challenges and expectations of the regional media. They said the forum this year would discuss all the major developments in the regional media industry. The list of speakers who confirmed participation include eminent journalists and academics from different parts of the world, including some of the world's top names in the field of journalism. Disclosing the details of the programme for the forum, Maryam Bin Fahad, Executive Director, Dubai Press Club, said the various sessions for the forum were designed with a view to make the proceedings of the event a true reflection of the current state of the media in the Arab World, in terms of politics, technology and the socio-economic content. "Apart from the various sessions and workshops, we are also holding a special keynote address this time on investigative journalism. One of the world's foremost journalists with an illustrious track record in breaking stories on global politics will deliver this keynote address," she said. The three workshops that are held as part of the forum will focus on the proliferation of private television channels in Egypt, the mushrooming of popular heritage channels in the Arab World and the practice of fatwas being aired on television. All these three topics are particularly relevant in today's context as the religious content on television has seen a major spurt in the past few years. The sessions that are held over the two days of the event will cover subjects like the impact of the financial crisis on the media, the failure of business media to predict the crisis and the increase in the number of print periodicals in the Arab World as opposed to their fast decline in the West. Other important themes covered by the sessions are the emergence and evolution of the new media, Arabic versions of foreign television channels, the work environment for foreign news agencies in the Arab World and the Arab media coverage of the recent war on Gaza. "The forum is widely regarded as an authentic and hugely inclusive platform that encourages wide-ranging discussions on the media in the region. As such, we are trying our best to come up with programmes that show the reality of the media industry, which has been keeping pace with global changes in a way that attract the attention of the world. We are confident that the forum this year will generate lasting ideas that not only describe the state of the media, but also point in directions for the future," said Bin Fahad. Over 600 prominent media personalities from all over the region and beyond are expected to participate at the forum this year. The Press Club authorities said the names of the speakers will be announced shortly. The Arab Media Forum is the Middle East's most prominent media event every year that started in 2001 and it facilitates in-depth debates and exchange of ideas on the media in the region. Keep up with the latest business news from the region with the Emirates Business 24|7 daily newsletter. To subscribe to the newsletter, please click here .