Media Revolution in the Arab World

 

Nabil Al Katibe

By Hanan Mohammed




Traditional media such as television and newspapers still exist and play the key role in the Arab World, although social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are used more.

Nabil Al Katibe, executive editor in Al Arabiya News Channel said, today we have "Facebook Revolution " and social networking sites have contributed to political change and the arrival of events moment by moment through the pictures and videos. But television has a major role in the transfer although  there are differences in events and coverage.

 He added, people watch traditional media for 5 to 6 hours each day in the Arab countries. Also, “ In the traditional media researchers can’t see the numbers but in social networking sites, they can see the numbers of users and viewers”. In addition, one of the advantages of the new media is self-expression,  but traditional media in the same time prevented in some areas because of political systems so people turn to social networking sites.  

However, he saw in the media there is no credibility sometime, there are many images and videos that are published because they represent a specific event, but after the event, people know that it  is represents other events. For example, some channels took  pictures of the sites they represent Syria, but later found it from Lebanon.  He said,  must be measures to confirm the news such as the use and alternative ways to get the news and check the authenticity of correspondents, such as communication persons of the same area to make sure the information is correct.