Arab Media Forum 2017 agenda revealed

Monday, Apr 24, 2017

Dubai: Prominent media leaders, scholars and writers will all gather at this year’s Arab Media Forum (AMF) to discuss the Arab media’s role in civil dialogue, the Dubai Press Club (DPC) announced on Monday.

Themed “Civil Dialogue”, this year’s edition will see over 3,000 participants and experts in the media industry who will discuss the role of media in promoting civil dialogue through highlighting the important elements of peaceful coexistence, tolerance, mutual respect as well as condemning any display of racism, hatred and prejudice, it was announced.

DPC revealed a packed agenda for the two-day forum, to be held on May 1 and 2 at Madinat Jumeirah under the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

This year, the forum will announce the “Arab image in the West” report, a survey on the American opinion of Arabs, conducted in partnership between Dubai Press Club, Arab News daily and YouGov and will see Shamma Al Mazroui, Minister of State for Youth Affairs launching a media initiative for Arab youth.

Shaikha Lubna Bint Khalid Al Qasimi, Minister of State for Tolerance, will present the keynote address at the opening plenary session on the second day and Noura Al Kaabi, Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs and Chairperson of Abu Dhabi Media Zone Authority will present a session titled “Constructive Dialogue.

Mona Ganem Al Merri, President of DPC and Chairperson of AMF Organising Committee, said that the forum had since its inception shouldered the responsibility of promoting constructive dialogue with the aim to refine the Arab media industry and enable it to understand people’s needs so as to respond to their requirements.

She noted that this responsibility grows with the regional complexity, for which some people blame the media and hold it accountable. Therefore, this year’s edition attempts to correct this misconception about the media industry and explore through the floor of AMF’s sessions the best methods media can adopt in order to come up with new patterns by which it can effectively face the growing challenges in the Arab world and promote a civil dialogue based on respecting pluralism and different ideologies.

Al Merri further added that only then would the Arab media institutions be able to unshackle themselves from negativity and re-establish themselves as valuable platforms and supporters of positive change in the future.

Sultan Ahmad Bin Sulayem, Chairman of DP World and Chairman of Ports, Customs & Free Zone Corporation, will speak at a panel discussion on “The Silk Road”. The session will be moderated by business news presenter in Al Arabiya News Channel Nadine Hani who will discuss the role of business in enriching civil dialogue between nations.

International media figures will also participate in the annual event, deemed the most prestigious media event in the Arab world, to share in their thoughts and experience. Richard Buangan, managing director for International Media, US Department of State, will addressn a session titled “Successful Political Dialogue”.

Dr Alexy Karenowska, a physicist and a research fellow at Oxford’s Department of Physics and a Director of Technology at the Institute for Digital Archaeology, will discuss the role of technology in preserving ancient civilisations. She will also discuss the UNESCO’s successful endeavour, with the support of the UAE government, to restore Palmyra’s Arch of Triumph using the application of architectural 3D printing.

Other participants will include the Polish newspaper designer and winner of Best Designed Newspaper award, Jacek Utko, whose redesigns for papers in Eastern Europe increased circulation by up to 100 per cent. Utko will talk about the importance of designing newspapers and whether good design can save newspapers from extinction.

Discussion sessions

This year, the AMF will feature a series of discussion sessions related to the vicissitudes in regional affairs and the importance of enhancing civil dialogue between the Arab nations, especially with regards to political and media relations in order to come up with the best possible solutions to current challenges and unlock potential for cooperation.

The Arab Media Forum will also feature “20 minutes” — interactive sessions that will tackle more specialised topics. Among the speakers will be writer Dr Sultan Al Nuaimi who will speak on “Constructive Vs Destructive Thought”; Turki Aldakhil, General Manager of Al Arabiya News Channel, who will speak in a session titled “The Civil Dialogue I wish for”, and Saudi writer Ali El Huyerini who will discuss the “Power of Thought”.

The AMF will host the inventor of “FreeCom” software programme and winner of the European Youth Digital Champion Award, Abdul Rahman Al Ashraf, who in a session entitled “Connecting without internet”, will reveal a new technology that allows internet users to connect to the world without internet in case there is no internet connection available.

Box

Other sessions:

“Dialogue of Truth” session headed by the Global Head of Training and Development at Google News Lab, Daniel Sieberg. He will discuss the sharp criticism that social media platforms faced from media decision-makers for not doing enough to stop the flow of fake news.

“Visual Dialogue”: John Pullman, Thomson Reuters’ Global Head of Video and Pictures, will tackle the impact of videos and photos on news reporting.

“Arab Unrest: The Post Era”, which will feature the Moroccan academic and researcher Yahya Alyahyawi and Chairman of the Gulf Forum for Peace and Security Fahed Al-Shelaimi.

“Hope in the Face of Terrorism”: Saudi journalist and researcher in Middle East affairs Abdulaziz Alkhames will be joining author and journalist Hazem Sagheya.

“The Forgotten Legacy of Arab Civilisations”: With Dr Ali Bin Tamim, Director-General of Abu Dhabi Media.

“Where is the Media”: Director of MBC Ali Jaber will discuss how media can facilitate understanding complicated Arab affairs.

“Deep Conversation”: Headed by Mamoun Fandy, Director of London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Middle East and Gulf Security programme, who will provide answers to some of the queries about the effectiveness of Arab media.

“Dialogue of Coexistence”: Iraqi researcher and writer Rasheed al-Khayoun will head the session.

“Inspiring Story: The Challenge”: Anchor of Al-Arabiya Rima Maktabi will narrate her journey to find the real meaning of facing challenges.

“Paths of Civilisation”: Ali Al Saloom, from Abu Dhabi Media, relates his own experience of meeting people of different cultural backgrounds in his session.

“A Message of Peace” is the session by the “Arab Idol” and Palestinian Singer Yacoub Shaheen.

Travel writer and founder of “Bab” cultural travel project Abdel Wahab al-Hamadi, from Kuwait, will speak in his session about the evolution of the genre of travel literature.

“Digital Discrimination”: Digital media expert from Saudi Arabia, Dr Abdullah Al Maghlooth will talk about the mass spreading of hate messages throughout the internet.

“Talk Shows: the audience recipes”: Rachid Allali, presenter of the famous Moroccan show “Rachid Show” on 2M channel, will talk about the positive effect of “talk shows” and their role in enhancing dialogue with others.

“Dubai BC”: Session presented by Loay Al Shareef, a researcher of ancient Arabian civilisations.

“Dialogue of Tolerance”: With Alex Aiken, UK Executive Director of Government Communications.

Staff Report