Look: Arab Media Forum to discuss future 'digital' path of industry

Dubai - Discussions will revolve around future challenges facing the media industry in a digital world.

Mona Ghanem Al Marri, director-general of the Dubai Media Office and vice-president of the UAE Gender Balance Council, said speakers and participants at the forum will essentially dwell on the impact of digitalisation on the media sector and how to handle it in the time to come, apart from other important issues.

She added that the media industry will always move forward, and the forum will brainstorm on ways to digitalise it, especially under the current circumstances as Covid-19 pandemic looms large.

Advertising

“For me, it is better to hold the forum virtually rather than giving it a miss and postponing it to next year,” Al Marri pointed out, adding that all the experts will be available online, and discussions will be held on a global platform."Personally, I will miss meeting people in real (life), working with them as a group and attending the workshops," she said. "Virtual discussions will no doubt be the high point of the meeting, and allow all participants to benefit from it," Al Marri noted, adding that more than 3,000 people have registered to attend the forum.

Maitha Essa Buhumaid, director of Dubai Press Club, said that the forum will hold discussions on the challenges that the media sector is encountering, its future and the changes in its dynamics.

One of the sessions will highlight the way news is spread, the audience it reaches and the impact it makes, she pointed out. She added that 11 winners of Arab Journalism Award will be felicitated at the event.

The key speakers at this year’s forum include Dr Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister of Egypt, Dr Nayef Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Dr Osama Haikal, Egypt's Minister of State for Information, and Michael Friedenberg, President, Reuters News.

Author, reporter and columnist Thomas Friedman will join the participants to discuss the prospects of peace in the Middle East and the impact of the agreements between the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan with Israel to promote stability in the region.