KUWAIT, Dec 20(Kuwait Times): Kuwait's first Youth Media Forum opened yesterday at Kuwait University's main campus. The event is taking place under the patronage of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, who was represented at yesterday's opening ceremony by the minister of oil and of information, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah. A number of prominent dignitaries also attended the opening event, including education minister Dr. Moudhi Al Humoud and several media figures.
In his inaugural speech delivered on HH the Amir's behalf, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah said that the forum attains special importance through its efforts to familiarize them with the ever-changing scientific and professional realities of the present day. He stressed that this puts a great responsibility on the authorities to ensure that younger generations will be encouraged to keep these issues in the forefront of their minds both in the short and long term.
The minister said that the Arab world has a great need for balanced and objective media to monitor and report on current affairs and events in the region, stressing the importance of training young people in assuming the responsibilities incumbent on all those working in the media field and of elevating regional media to a higher level.
In her speech at the inaugural ceremony, Dr. Al-Humoud said that Kuwait's media and its young people are both subjects of great concern and interest to HH the Amir, especially given Kuwait's high regional ranking in terms of media freedom. The minister said that good media are those which depend on accuracy and truth, describing such media as "the wings on which democracy flies.
Mahdi Al-Khamis, the Secretary General of the Arab Media Forum, stressed that the immense challenges of the future can only be overcome by encouraging young people to participate in the big picture and helping them to keep up with international trends. Contemporary media has erased geographic limitations and borders, he said, meaning that information can no longer remain hidden.
Speaking at the event on behalf of the Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, the head of the league's media department Mohammad Al-Khemlishi said that the Arab League believes that future developments in Arab media depend strongly on young people's awareness and knowledge of current affairs.
Another distinguished guest at the event, former Algerian minister Ezzedine Mahioubi, said that with the advent of the internet modern news media have gone far beyond the traditional concepts of media, becoming part of an expansive global communications system which now performs a partnership role, interactively discussing changes rather than simply relating news. These innovations can also enable those in the media to affect news positively or negatively, he cautioned, urging young people to gain real kno
wledge and insight and demand in-depth information rather than being satisfied with the current superficial level of information available.
This is especially important given the negative portrayals of Arabs in much Western media, where they are accused of being terrorists and exporters of terrorism, he said, adding that the only way to refute these allegations is by acquiring real knowledge and accurate information and suggesting that the current young generations are extremely fortunate in having easy access to information.
Another speaker at the forum's first day yesterday, Badr Al-Harthy, the Editor-in-Chief of 'Sayedaty' magazine, said during the second session that the key to success in the field of communications is to update one's writing techniques and style and to always keep up-to-date with the latest developments in this field. Ensuring that one does both these things and ensures that all material is transparent, unexaggerated and accurate are the path to positive results, he asserted.
Another speaker, MBC TV presenter 'Nichan' said that he still considers himself a failure in this field, explaining his statement by expressing his belief, which he said he has held since youth, that development and learning are lifelong and ongoing processes. Nichan said that he has learnt never to let one's current circumstances get one down or to give up, but to keep fighting and developing oneself.
He told the audience about his own life, saying that his father had initially forced him to take a degree in biology, and that he had applied for an advertised position as a presenter with a UAE TV channel only after graduation. After being accepted and successfully completing his training, sadly, Nichan's father died only minutes before the young man was due to make his TV debut. However, he continued, even after finding out about his father's death minutes before he began presenting the show, he kept goi
ng, proving his professionalism and ability to handle bad news.
After this, said Nichan, he moved on to study various media in greater depth and to develop his language skills, particularly in Arabic, moving from one channel to another until reaching his current post with MBC where, he revealed, he is currently preparing to host a Hebrew language program so that "the Arab message reaches Hebrew culture.