Radio host laments cultural decay Sunday, 25 July 2010 05:45

Doha: The Cultural Cafe¢ Programme has become a pivotal event since its inception in 2002.

Eight years ago, the programme was introduced to monitor the changing features of Arab culture.

Programme host Muhammad Al Gohari managed to give the listeners of his programme deep insights into the conditions of Arab culture by interviewing a large number of Arab cultural figures who visited Doha to participate in celebrations marking the choice of the Qatari capital to be the capital of Arab culture for 2010.

“Eight years after launching the programme, it’s mounting new heights in relation to subjects,” Al Gohari said. “This was also influenced by the use of the digital system and modern technologies in radio studios,” he added.

He noted that he suggested the programme and received approval, but the name of the programme proved later to be a sticky issue for many.

“We finally decided to call it Cultural Cafe¢ ,” he said.

He added that the programme aimed to offer the necessary impetus to local, Arab, and international culture.

He noted that programme producers were keen to host local and Arab intellectuals so that they could update programme fans about developments taking place at the local and Arab cultural scenes.

He blamed media workers for the decline in the number of cultural programmes.

He said these media people ought to seek to strike a balance with surging sports programmes.

THE PENINSULA