Beirut: Participants in the 21st edition of the Arab Media Forum recommended on Saturday integration of the Arab media outlets, protecting freedom of opinion and speech, affirmed support for the youth and called for deepening partnerships between the media institutions, universities and think tanks.
According to Kuwait News Agency, the recommendations came in the final communique of the forum, held on October 29-20, themed "media and development .. coalition of partners of the present and the future." It was sponsored by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and attended by Arab League Secretary General Ahmad Abulgheit, Director General of the Arab Planning Institute Dr. Adel Alwuqayyan, ministers, officials, media figures, and academics from various Arab countries.
The final communique called for safeguarding the freedom of opinion and expression as they are the basis for any Arab media venture. It called for establishing "a legislative and operating environment that guarantees practicing freedom with professional and national responsibility, staying abreast of technological development, and artificial intelligence in media and digital production realms."
It called for boosting the Arab media merger through mechanisms for exchanging news, other media items, and coordinating communication policies for serving causes of the nation, its intelligence, and cultural unity.
The conferees during the sessions addressed a host of issues such as technological transformation and its role in protecting national identity, boosting social awareness, the future of the career, digital content, the development of communication means and their impact on freedoms, credibility, and professionalism.
They advised encouraging joint workshops, the holding of meetings, training courses for expertise swap, updating skills of the personnel in the private and public sectors, dedicating attention to the Arab youth through backing training, launching initiatives, holding contests to stimulate creativity, and boosting the role of media academies.
Moreover, the participants called for supporting initiatives, establishing a platform for Arab media creativity, incubating talented and innovative projects in the sector, and urging the Arab League to officially adopt them.
The statement emphasized the necessity to revise media laws and legislations in Arab states to be in harmony with the digital era, ensure balance between freedom of expression and protecting privacy, and enact modern laws according to international criteria following the example of a Lebanese bill declared by the Lebanese Information Minister Paul Morqos during the gathering.
The conferees affirmed the necessity of establishing an Arab monitor for media developments to follow up on technological and legal developments, issuing annual reports on digital transformation and its impact on media realms, in addition to enhancing the partnership between media institutions and universities for producing new educational programs in the sectors of digital media and artificial intelligence.
The statement called for supporting cooperation among ministries of information, journalistic institutions to unify efforts in the face of fake news, ethical breaches, and launching joint awareness campaigns supporting values of dialogue, tolerance, and respect among nations of diverse cultures.
It underscored the media's role in backing up sustainable development in the Arab world by means of adopting a positive Arab rhetoric linking up awareness, knowledge, progress, and work and called for establishing an Arab fund for supporting youth media initiatives.
Furthermore, the conferees called for deepening cooperation between the forum with Arab and international institutions that work in the fields of communication, media, training, and scientific research, and noted the necessity of organizing various media activities in Lebanon in support of the country's historic cultural and media role.
The conferees greeted the souls of journalism martyrs in Lebanon, Palestine, and other Arab countries, affirming the necessity of protecting journalists in conflict regions, based on international resolutions, the Geneva convention, and journalism freedom charters.