Arab media fail society, say experts Thursday, 03 June 2010 07:07

DOHA: Arab media, particularly the hundreds of entertainment-oriented television channels in the region, have miserably failed to deal with serious socio-political issues concerning the local populations, a session at the Doha Forum here was told yesterday.

Speakers at the session, who came out heavily against the regional media for their lack of creativity and originality, urged governments and the civil society in the region to positively respond to the challenges posed by the “new media” operating through the Internet and take advantage of the opportunities they offered.

“Arabs have made major investments in the media. However, the media outlets owned by Arab businessmen have contributed little to preserve the Arab culture and identity and eliminate the stereotyped images about Arabs prevailing in the West,” said Farah Atassi, president of the Arab Information Resource Center based in Washington, speaking at a session titled “Media-restrictions and challenges.”

She observed that Arab media outlets remained lost in theories of cultural and religious confrontation, while the mainstream media in the West was showing signs of a positive change, with new topics and articles that call for dialogue with Arab and Muslim communities.

“The Arab thinkers do not know how to address the Western audiences…. the Arab media should serve as a platform for dialogue and a tool to bridge the information gap,” said Atassi.

Dr Abdullah Al Kindi, Assistant Dean of Qaboos University in Oman, said there were about 500 television channels in the Arab world but they hardly come out with original programmes that suit the culture and traditions of the region.

“These channels are focusing only on entertainment and are just imitating or reproducing programmes made in other countries. They don’t even bother to change the settings or the characters,” observed Al Kindi.

Media outlets in the Arab world are owned either by governments or private businessmen who are motivated only by profits. There is a need for non-profit media outlets, funded by civil society organisations, said Abdul Wahab Al Faiez, chief editor of Iqtisadiya newspaper based in Riyadh.

Patrick Butler of the International Center for Journalist, in the US said, “citizenship journalism” through mobile phones and the Internet was fast emerging as an alternative media channel, including in the Middle East. He said his organisation was working with several agencies in the region including Qatar News Agency and the Al Jazeera Training Center to promote online journalism.

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