Doha, November 30 (QNA) - HE Director-General of Qatar News Agency (QNA) Ahmed bin Saeed Al Rumaihi stressed the need for the global media to show responsibility towards serving public interests by creating a positive, healthy and harmonious public opinion environment to further enhance global prosperity, stressing media's vital role in conveying information and raising awareness.
In a statement to China's Xinhua news agency ahead of his participation in the 5th World Media Summit in Beijing, His Excellency said that the role of the media in addressing global issues and ensuring the presence of an informed public is essential and multifaceted, including monitoring events, especially as the media follows up and covers global issues on an ongoing basis, which provides the public with the latest international developments and events, in addition to conveying information and news about global issues in an independent and objective manner that helps the public understand international situations as well as enriches the analysis by providing analysis and articles that bring a deeper understanding of global issues and provide multiple perspectives.
HE the QNA Director General said that media's responsibilities and role include encouraging debate as media coverage contributes to stimulating discussions and dialogues about global issues and directing attention to important issues, in addition to raising awareness about issues such as climate change, human rights, public health, and many other humanitarian issues, and influencing decision makers through the media's ability to direct public pressure and influence towards policy makers to take action regarding global issues.
The roles of the media include monitoring human rights violations by highlighting human rights violations in a place and helping to push the international community to take action, HE Ahmed bin Saeed Al Rumaihi added, saying the world has become a small village and its countries are more dependent on each other and the importance of the media in it is increasing as the entity that constitutes the link in the current era with significant changes taking pace. Therefore, the media bears the responsibility to transmit live stories about the contemporary world accurately and objectively to all parts of the world. It should also act as a bridge linking different cultures and peoples which makes greater contributions to the process of social development and progress for all of humanity, he added.
His Excellency stressed the important role played by the media in achieving economic growth, social development and international cooperation through several axes, namely the transfer of information, as the media contributes to conveying economic, social and political information to the public to increase awareness and enable individuals and institutions to make better decisions and enhance transparency by providing independent reports and analysis that encourage the media to be transparent and help in combating corruption, enhance business climate and trust in the government, support innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit by highlighting success models and new opportunities in the economy, and enhance education and awareness by providing awareness and education programs increasing education and awareness about economic and social issues.
He also noted the media's role in enhancing international communication between different countries and cultures that encourages international cooperation and exchange of knowledge, and putting emphasis on global issues by drawing attention to global issues such as climate change and sustainable development to further enhance international cooperation to resolve these issues.
HE Ahmed bin Saeed Al Rumaihi highlighted QNA's belief in the important role of the media in consolidating the feeling of unity and cooperation between countries in several ways, the most important of which is providing reliable and comprehensive information about global events that can increase people's understanding of international issues and enhance the sense of belonging to the entire world, noting that the media provides a platform for exchanging diverse viewpoints and holding an open discussion on international issues to enhance mutual understanding and cooperation, in addition to highlighting success stories and cooperation through publishing stories and reports on cooperation between countries and joint development projects to encourage participation in international cooperation efforts as well as stimulate cultural awareness through media by presenting different cultures that can contribute to enhancing mutual respect between countries and peoples, in addition to calling for joint action by encouraging the media to participate in international efforts and initiatives aimed at solving common problems such as climate change and international security.
In his statement to Xinhua news agency, HE Director General of QNA considered the 5th World Media Summit a platform for mutual learning and cooperation between global media institutions to enhance consensus and seek common development, embrace new opportunities and address new challenges in the media sector. The summit pays attention to assessing development trends in the global media industry and focuses on a series of pivotal issues facing media organizations in light of global crises, the rapidly changing demands of audiences, and the rapid development of modern technologies.
He added that the 5th World Media Summit will certainly be a refined platform for communication, information exchange and cooperation between all news agencies, as well as printed press and online media around the world. It creates an opportunity to exchange experiences gained and the progress achieved in the field of media in light of globalization.
HE Ahmed bin Saeed Al Rumaihi also stressed that the summit contributes to achieving joint development and mutual benefit for all in the face of common challenges and the unprecedented changes and transformations that the global media industry is facing resulting from the internet era with the entry of smartphones, technologies and new platforms of communication, as well as the rapid increase of information sharing.
Xinhua News Agency is scheduled to host the 5th World Media Summit from Dec. 2 to 8, with the participation of officials, leaders of institutions and representatives of the media from various countries of the world.
The 1st session of the summit was held in Beijing back in 2009, while the 2nd was hosted in Russia under the sponsorship of TASS News Agency in 2012. The 3rd session was held in Doha under the sponsorship of Al Jazeera Media Network, whereas the 4th World Media Summit was organized again in Beijing in 2021.
Held in Doha in 201 under the title "Future of News and News Organizations", the summit witnessed many discussions on some of the most important current issues, including the impact of technology on the news transmission process, sustainable strategies for media work, the protection of journalists, and the ever-changing needs of audiences around the world. The in-depth exchange of views between participants also had a positive role in expanding the common understanding between news media and journalists in countries with different systems and experiences. (QNA)