Crossing Red Lines In Media Criticism In the Arab World

By Shurouq Lashkri

Heba Al-Abasiry, an anchor of AL Hayat TV, believes that crossing the red lines in entertainment programs leads to having more viewers, which leads to more advertisements that lead to increased revenue. She is not necessarily fond of it, but if it was necessary, she would do it in a way that would not affect her conscience in a bad way. 

According to Ms. Al-Abasiry, the society needs to take care of its individuals morally, socially,  economically..etc, then it will not have to worry about the red lines as the society would be raised on certain values and what they see on TV will not affect them. 

Ms. Al-Abasiry believes that a person’s red line should be his conscience. If the presenter knows that what he is discussing is not considered crossing the red line, then it is acceptable for him/her to talk about anything. It is not absolute freedom, however, you are ought to have a professional conscience and an understanding of the responsibility you have towards your family and the world around you to be respectful. It is not considered crossing the red line when there is credibility as Ms. Al-Abasiry continues to explain.

Heba Al-Abasiry on the left, Rafia Ghubash on the right

An additional comment made by another speaker, Rafia Ghubash, was “don’t think, let us think for you” about the role of programs on some TV channels. The comment received great response and applause from the audience. Ms. Ghubash explained that freedom is different from being free. Some countries around the world, call for being free, not freedom. Rafia explains that being free is liberating oneself from the values, morals, and religion he/she belongs to. “We are (Arabs) invited to liberate ourselves from everything”, Ms. Ghubash continued explaining that it is sometimes the channel’s main goal to cross the red line in accordance to their beliefs to be free and have freedom of speech.

Rafia Ghubash is the former president of Arabian Gulf University. Other speakers of the session were George Kordahi, the renown MBC channel presenter, Khalid Al Khaja, and Lina Abu Baker. The session, named “Entertainment space…Blurring the red lines” mainly focused on how TV channels are playing with red lines to attract viewers and advertisers, and the response it is getting from the Arab societies.

New Media Is Not Entirely New

By Shurouq Lashkri

Octavia Nasr

New media is not very new. It has been there for everyone for so long, but people just started paying and bringing attention to it, that is why it is seen as new as Octavia Nasr states in a session in the Arab Media Forum hosted at Grand Hyatt Hotel, Dubai.

The topics of the session, called “Media in a shifting Arab World”, were mainly focusing on the role of traditional and new media in causing the recent political and media changes. Even though the topics of the session were set, the speakers were getting off topic talking about media agendas. Ms. Nasr, on the other hand, was very eager to discuss some of the topics of the session stating that “we organized this session to talk about social media networks, yet we are still talking about media agendas. The moderator has not even read a single opinion or question stated on Twitter!”.

After Ms. Nasr’s sarcastic comment on how the moderator, Taleb Kanaan, who is an anchor for Al Arabiya News channel; was handling the Twitter account of Al Arabiya, she commented that ”journalists think they need to go to Twitter and create a new account in order for them to stay in touch with their audience; rarely updating their accounts thinking that by creating a new account their job is done”. Admitting the role of new media and social networks in changing events is not about creating new accounts, it is about knowing how to use these new media tools to connect to your audience and keep them interested.

According to Ms. Nasr, there is no transition between old and new media. There is compatibility and harmony between the two, meaning that the two have been there for some time and both are used together, not separately.

Ms. Nasr is the founder of Bridges Media Consulting company in the U.S. This was the tenth anniversary for the Arab Media Forum, which was held for two weekdays. Other speakers of the session were Abeer Najjar, Nabil Al Katib, and Qenan Al Ghamdi. The session mainly focused on the influence of social media on audiences on getting information from a wider choice of sources.

AUDIO-Octavia Nasr's comment on moderator in AMF 

First youth-run panel in AMF

By: Fatma Bujsaim

Image from Moaza Al Muheiri

For the first time in its history, the 10^th Arab Media Forum held a panel discussion that included university students only. The discussion was titled “Arab Youth create their own media platform” was moderated by a young anchor on Sama Dubai Channel, Nour Eldein Al Youssef, who succeeded in getting the audience involved in the discussion.

The four students were from different universities in the country. The discussion started off by asking the participants different questions that will give the audience the level of the participants understanding when it comes to social media and its power.

Abdulla, one of the participants from the American University of Sharjah, said that traditional media and social media can reach a point where they do not compete in terms of content, but when it comes to speed and influence, social media will still be stronger. He also added that students have different taste and that social media gave the youth the chance to skip the news that they are not interested in. Abdulla also suggested that social media allowed the youth to participate in important events and state their opinion on social/political issues.

On that note, Yasser Al Neyadi, a student from the United Arab Emirates University, pointed out that with that sort of freedom, the youth should be aware of media-ethics. He said that social media is like directing a film, you give the audience what they want and you can argue and discuss any issue you want, as long as you present it in a good way that isn’t offending or aggressive, “people need to know that they have the power but they have to understand what personal responsibility is”.

The older people from the audience looked surprised by the level of intelligence and the sense of ethics those students showed. Waleed Al- Helali, director of the PR department in Saudi Aramco, expressed his delight by saying, “I’m impressed, and I’m very glad that the forum started involving students.”

Not only that, but the discussion witnessed a huge crowd where many people had to stand at the back. The discussion ended with the participants concluding that they do understand the power of social media and they will not stop using it any time soon.

Video:
Video of panel

Audio:
Participant speaking

Lucky strike defeats with the value of the show

Lucky strike defeats with the value of the show

By Futaim Al Falasi

The Dean of Information, Mass Communication and Humanities at Ajman University said that have to admit it that Arab media do not play a good social role, by copying the value of west societies, in a discussion about red line on the 10^th Arab Media Forum this month.

Khalid said, is there an importance of commitment, to identify what's allowed and not to cross the line? Entertainment programs ease the viewer's stress, entertain him and make him laugh but also it numbs him and makes him forget his society and the world he's living in.

Khalid added that the real challenge that the entertainment programs face is in terms of its contents. By importing programs from west that conflict with our religious values.

Khalid pointed that there are wining programs that doesn't depend on questions, like the TV program Deal or no Deal which originally comes from Poland and was copied in 5 editions in our media, and I don’t know what's the real value for such kind of these shows.

Elissar Antonios and the Art of Communicating in the Workplace

By: Alia Humaid

From left to right:Elissar Antonios; Meera Sultan; Sultan Al Qassemi

In the celebration of the 100^th anniversary of International Women’s Day, a conference, organized by Mubadala, the developing company, as the conference is all over to acknowledge women’s role in leadership. Elissar Antonios, managing director of Citi Private Bank’s Chief Officer in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, said effective communication is of a great importance in the work place. 

“Be extremely clear with your message. Be transparent and simple to put the message across” said Mrs. Elissar Antonios.  Mrs. Antonios drew attention to several techniques designed to reinforce methods of communication.   For instance, body language, handling conversations with colleagues, listening to others, as well as offering practical feedbacks and comments.    Competition was another topic that Elissar Antonios stressed.  According to her, people at the workplace field  are bound to interact with the external and internal environment of stakeholders of the organization or company, thus competition among colleague is natural.   “Yes there may be competition! Aligning interest is a thing that could help” she stated.

Al Jaber: A Women Of Vision And Mind

By: Alia Humaid

Retrieved from http://www.thenational.ae

A daughter. A mother. An exceptional businesswoman. Her Excellency Fatima Al Jaber is a renowned Emirati female who invaded the “male-oriented” workplace, at the time where the role of woman was restricted to the borders of her house.

Her Excellency sets a perfect example for the Emirati leadership vision, aiming to enforce the role of local females within the work force. Her carrier is a witness to her accomplishments, and her resume is lavish. It will take more than one article to cover all her achievements. Fatima Al Jaber is currently a board member of Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Council for Economic Development and Centre for Corporate Governance and is a Chief Operating Officer at Al Jaber Group.

Her Excellency’s speech during the 100th anniversary celebration of International Women’s Day in Abu Dhabi had an outstanding effect in motivating young females. By the side of other inspiring speakers of the third panel of the event, Fatima Al Jaber exchanged views regarding the opportunities for professional advancement in the Middle East. “A women with talent, a women with mind can do miracles.” stated Fatima Al Jaber. According to her, the issue is to make women believe in themselves and make them move forward.

“ I think these events can help women understand each other first…you listen to these ladies and you learn…and younger generation will listen to you at certain times and will learn from your experience” commented Fatima Al Jaber.

Al Jaber: A Women Of Vision And Mind

By: Alia Humaid

A daughter. A mother. An exceptional businesswoman. Her Excellency Fatima Al Jaber is a renowned Emirati female who invaded the “male-oriented” workplace, at the time where the role of woman was restricted to the borders of her house.

Her Excellency sets a perfect example for the Emirati leadership vision, aiming to enforce the role of local females within the work force. Her carrier is a witness to her accomplishments, and her resume is lavish. It will take more than one article to cover all her achievements. Fatima Al Jaber is currently a board member of Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Council for Economic Development and Centre for Corporate Governance and is a Chief Operating Officer at Al Jaber Group.

Her Excellency’s speech during the 100^th anniversary celebration of International Women’s Day in Abu Dhabi had an outstanding effect in motivating young females. By the side of other inspiring speakers of the third panel of the event, Fatima Al Jaber exchanged views regarding the opportunities for professional advancement in the Middle East. “A women with talent, a women with mind can do miracles.” stated Fatima Al Jaber. According to her, the issue is to make women believe in themselves and make them move forward.

 “ I think these events can help women understand each other first…you listen to these ladies and you learn…and younger generation will listen to you at certain times and will learn from your experience” commented Fatima Al Jaber.

http://audioboo.fm/boos/352486-fatima-al-jaber