Dubai Press Club (DPC), organisers of Arab Media Forum, announced today its collaboration with Al Arabiya News Channel for hosting a key session on the closing day of the 11th Arab Media Forum.
Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the event will run from 8-9 May at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Dubai. The largest media gathering in the region, the forum is expected to draw over 2,000 media professionals and opinion leaders from around the world.
Titled ‘News Channels and Arab Revolutions: Questions about Coverage and Performance’, the session will discuss the stringent professional scrutiny that the Arab and international news channels were subjected to while covering the sweeping social and political transformation witnessed in the Arab countries.
Some of the channels attracted millions of viewers from across the region and worldwide. Analysts and observers deem that a number of these channels barely adhered to professional standards or ethics in their coverage of the Arab revolutions. While some used inflammatory language, the others portrayed subjective rather than objective reporting. A few other television channels even revamped their entire programming schedule in order to provide round-the-clock ‘breaking news’ and televise sensational developing stories on ground.
Analysing incidents and professional mistakes made bycertain establishments in verifying their sources of information, the panellists will evaluate if the mistakes were professional oversights or part of a well-planned agenda and editorial policy.
In addition to exploring the current and future role of the Arab television media, the segment will discuss the effectiveness of news channels and lessons that decision makers at news establishments learnt. Additionally, the obstacles of field work, dangers that correspondents were exposed to and the deliberate jamming some channels experienced will also be highlighted.
Moderated by Muntaha Al Ramahy, from Al Arabiya TV, the discussion will feature panellists such as Ibrahim Helal, News Director, Al Jazeera News Channel, Alexander Nazarov, Director of “Russia Al-Yaum” News Channel, Amr Khafagy, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Al Shorouk newspaper, Fares Couri, Editor-in-Chief, BBC Arabic, and Nakhle El Hage, Director of News and Current Affairs, Al Arabiya News Channel.