By Nawaf Al-Deqbasi
DOHA, June 10 (KUNA) -- Kuwait's Minister of Information and State Minister for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Al-Sabah urged Gulf media to develop their services and to employ new tools to counter extremism and spread the message of tolerance and.
In a statement to KUNA following his participation in the Third GCC Media Forum, the minister called on official media organizations to develop their potential and their presence in the new media to provide correct information and appropriate responses to the fabrications and rumors.
The new media should be a positive tool that contributes to the development and progress of communities, he said, noting that the Arab region is facing various challenges that require collective action to overcome them.
The professional media have a role to play in this effort through providing professional and objective products that achieve the interests of the communities and enhance the security of their people, the minister said.
He argued that the new media are not a challenge for the Arab region alone but the whole world.
The international institutions have begun studying how to regulate the new media through introducing codes of conduct and legislations to provide professional and influential products that help countries develop and retain their security and stability, he clarified.
Sheikh Salman stressed that the countering media tools of the terrorist groups needs a clear-cut strategy that harnesses the skills and employs all the potential of the state-owned and private media institutions to debunk their messages.
The minister, however, regretted that some terrorist groups are more media-savvy, especially in their ability to use social networking sites, than many official and private news and media organizations.
He also reiterated that the current events engulfing the Arab and Gulf regions require maximum cooperation among all media to deal appropriately with these events.
Earlier, the minister stated that at this stage in the history of the region, it is incumbent on Gulf media to disseminate the values of tolerance, moderation and discarding hate, violence, and negation of "the other." Such approach to the media should be done collectively by all Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states through their ministries of information, he said.
He emphasized that the media has to discredit and fight regressive thinking that espouses hate speech and animosity toward the "other." The Third GCC Media Forum is held on the sidelines of the 23th meeting of the GCC Information Ministers. In addition to the Sheikh Salman, the forum was also attended by Kuwait News Agency Board Chairman and Director General Sheikh Mubarak Al-Duaij Al-Sabah, Kuwait's Ministry of Information Undersecretary Tareq Al-Mezrem and the Information Ministry's Assistant Undersecretary for External Media Faisal Al-Mutallaqem. (end) nnd.ibi