MANAMA, Feb 1 (KUNA) -- Bahraini minister of culture and media Sheikha Mai bint Mohammad Al-Khalifa hailed here Monday the first pioneers of Bahraini journalism and their contribution to the advancement of the Bahraini journalism.
The top Bahraini cultural official asserted in a ceremony held here today by the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council states for honoring the first pioneers of the Bahraini press that journalism is the basis upon which all the overarching achievement of the Arab Gulf states is rested.
Sheikha Mai added that, "Journalism should enjoy freedom which has the responsible view that advances and develops the society as one of its most important requirements." Meanwhile, head of the GCC Press Federation Turki Al-Sudairi asserted that the press in Bahrain offered a very positive model of the journalistic career in the Arab Gulf states, pointing out that the most important characteristic of the Arab Gulf journalism in general is being not a party of the existing inter-Arab disagreements.
Al-Sudairi said that, "Bahrain is a country that dedicated itself to culture and the social development relatively earlier than other Arab Gulf states and this included the development of the Bahraini journalism that could support the political and social development." On his part, secretary general of the GCC Press Federation Nasser Al-Othman asserted that the federation's endeavors toward honoring the pioneering figures of the GCC journalism will continue.
Al-Othman added that, "This will be a historical and documentary frame of reference for those poineers who contributed to enriching journalism in the GCC states." He pointed out that honoring the pioneers of the Bahraini press comes as part of a big project that was approved by the general secretariat of the federation during the Doha meeting in March 2009 and it provided for honoring those pioneers in the six GCC states plus Yemen.
Finally, the ceremony included honoring 14 of the founding fathers of the Bahraini press including Abdullah Al-Zayed, Mahmoud Al-Mardi, Ali Sayar, Hassan Jawad Al-Jashi, Abdullah Al-Wazan, Ibrahim Hassan Kamal, Abdullah Al-Madni , Abdul Rahman Asheer, Ahmad Yateem, Muhammed Qassem Al-Shirawi, Ibrahim Ali Al-Ibrahim, Ahmad Salman Kamel, Khalifa Qassem, Taqai Al-Baharna. (end) gmm.aff KUNA 012042 Feb 10NNNN