Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Abdulaziz Khoja is flanked by Yang Binyuan, Riyadh Kamal Najm, and Rosarita Widiastuti at the inaugural session of the 10th anniversary of the Asia Media Summit at Jeddah Hilton. — SPA/SG photos by Hassan Cheruppa



Hassan Cheruppa

Saudi Gazette

Top executives, professionals, researchers, and stakeholders of broadcasting and programming industry from 50 countries in the Asia and Pacific region as well as media leaders and experts from Africa, Europe and North America attended the 10th anniversary of the Asia Media Summit (AMS), which concluded at Jeddah Hilton on Wednesday.



The Malaysia-based Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) organized the event in cooperation with the Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information and the Saudi General Commission for Audiovisual Media (GCAM).



On behalf of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, Minister of Culture and Information Abdulaziz Khoja delivered the keynote speech at the opening session. Several brainstorming sessions of the two-day summit with the theme of “Media and diversity: Enriching the broadcasting experience” had in-depth analysis of various aspects of the diversity of technology, content, skills and standards of media industry in the Asia-Pacific region, which is home to almost two-thirds of humanity and possesses a remarkable array of cultures, languages, lifestyles and religions.



The organizers say the summit was immensely successful in realizing its objective of making sense of broadcasters about this diversity as well as about the vast array of ideas, opinions, perspectives and cultural backgrounds that can contribute to a critical understanding of political, economic, social and human development. The summit gave broadcasters a platform to examine many dimensions of diversity and its impact on crafting a clear vision and innovative strategies in order to build a sustainable organization and foster a media organization and a society with a difference. They also underscored the need for regulations to stop misusing information technology and social media sites.



Addressing the opening session, GCAM President Riyadh Kamal Najm highlighted the unprecedented progress achieved in the field of information technology, which has changed the way people receive information. “We need regulations that can help weed out and check mischief-makers and troublemakers,” he said.



Later, taking part in the third session titled “Media’s watchdog role: How far should it go,” Najm said that there should be some regulations to control the media so as not to harm public interests besides making it to comply with the ethics and a balanced approach in its criticism. “It is shameful that a section of the media resorts to negative and offensive ways in their profession that result in eroding their credibility among the public,” he said in the session, moderated by Francesca Unsworth, deputy director of BBC.



Hosam El Nagar, operations director of UK’s Thomson Foundation, said the media should be responsive to the needs of the society. The panelists spoke about various aspects of media’s role as the eye and ear of government activities and its excesses. They also stressed that too much of adversarial reporting would diminish public trust and may even trigger chaos in countries transitioning out of conflict.



There was also another session on the similar topic of “Towards robust and effective media regulation: Opportunities and challenges.” Addressing the session, Yoshiko Nakamura of Japan Broadcasting Corporation emphasized the role of Information Ministry in circumventing illegal hurdles faced by the media and supporting it to address difficulties. Yan Chengsheng, senior media official of China, underlined the need for protecting the rights of viewers and listeners and respecting their opinions in a world, which saw unprecedented growth of smartphones. “By 2020, the number of smartphones is expected to reach 50 billion and people will be connected with the Internet on a large scale and that may lead to economic activities with a volume of $19 trillion.”



Addressing a session on “Rise of international satellite channels: Bane or boon,” Salah Eddine Maaoui of Tunisia, director general of Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU), called for framing regulations to ensure safety of social standards and morality of the public at a time when the Arab world is witnessing mushrooming of channels with no restraint. As a result of increased commercial activities in the media sector, there are nearly 1,300 channels in the Arab world that broadcast all kind of stuff resulting in chaos and confusion, he lamented.



There were also sessions on topics such as “TV and web convergence, mobile TV: What is next on the screen,” “Media in emergency situations,” “High-impact learning for organizational performance,” “Radio and new media: Empowering and engaging audiences,” “Is the newsroom adapting and innovative enough,” and “Building media as a responsible corporate citizen.” A cultural show featuring the Saudi traditional folk dances was staged on Tuesday night.