Protect cultural, civilizational identity, Arab media urged

Cairo : Information Minister and Board of Trustees Chairman of Bahrain Institute for Political Development (BIPD) Ali bin Mohammed Al Rumaihi has called on the Arab media to protect the cultural and civilisational identity. 

The Minister underscored the importance of promoting moral values in order to deter intellectual invasion, reform the media content and enhance its effectiveness in raising awareness of the youth, immunising them against extremist ideas and fostering their role in the comprehensive development march.

The Information Minister was speaking at a symposium on the requirements of job opportunities and the future of the youth in the media field. The event was held as part of the 7th Arab Youth Media Forum which is organised by the Arab Media Forum Authority at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo with the participation of a number of Information Ministers, senior officials, experts and specialised academics in the media sector from Arab countries.

The Information Minister lauded strong and historical relations between Bahrain and Egypt and their growth at all levels under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. 

The Minister praised the importance of Egypt as a strategic depth of the Arab nation. He spotlighted the role and importance of the media and its development at the regional and international level, pointing out challenges facing the sector and the opportunities youngsters have to work creatively in the digital media sector. 

Al Rumaihi called on the participants to adopt a youth media charter of honour against hatred in tune with the Arab Media Charter of Honour that embodies the awareness of the Arab youth and commitment to using mass media to bolster tolerance and renounce discourse provoking division, hatred, extremism and terrorism. 

The Minister stressed that mass media which hold on to the past and present only will not have a future, noting that technological equipment alone cannot yield success without a creative person capable of changing information into knowledge while being driven by high moral values that seek the public interest and human welfare.