Media, digital platforms can make public opinion

Media and digital platforms play key role in making public opinion about politics, economy and social issues and they should use their significant influence in a positive way to benefit the society, experts say.

While addressing a key session session titled ‘The power of media in shaping cultural identity’ on the concluding day of the 6th edition of the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival, experts said media has the ability to control public opinion and it should be used in a constructive way.

Sheikh Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, founder, Barjeel Art Foundation, said the media plays an important role in shaping individuals’ cultural identities.

“We are always consuming content from social media, which is evident in the amount of time we are holding our smartphones, which can range between four and seven hours,” he said.

He said the Arab media should focus on providing qualitative content to attract more audiences, who at the moment, trust more on western media platforms. He said new generation has the responsibility to generate quality content as it strongly relates to their identities and future.

"As a community, we all have a responsibility to improve the quality and quantity of Arabic content on the internet. While governments certainly have a role to play, it is also important for individuals to take action and correct any misinformation they come across,” he said.

“I am encouraged by the efforts of young people to increase Arabic content, such as initiatives for Wikipedia, and believe that collective efforts will make a positive impact,” said Al Qassemi.

The Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival 2022 concluded on Sunday after holding more than 50 discussion sessions and 30 engaging workshops with over 150+ industry expert speakers sharing their experiences and motivations to young entrepreneurs and aspiring attendees at the two-day festival.

Strong financial goals

Dr Khalid Al Midfa, CEO, Sharjah Media City (Shams), media initiatives should have a strong financial goal to attract investors, as a lack of economic objectives can undermine government efforts. He said there is a need to protect sources of information because it is easy to disseminate false or fake news.

“(Shams) is working on several projects aimed at establishing platforms suitable for our culture and ambitions. Our main mission is focused on attracting young content creators and startups through qualitative initiatives that enable their work to be sustainable,” he said.

Abdulsalam Haykal, CEO, Haykal Media, called on more efforts in this domain, and to refrain from relying on foreign languages for sources of information.

“We suffer from a huge shortage of Arabic content online notwithstanding there are more than 400 million Arabic speakers. There are many languages that have more content than Arabic, like Greek and Polish, which have only 28 million speakers in comparison,” he said.

Expanding your horizons

— muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com