We must preserve our national gains

Dr. Sultan bin Ahmad Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of State and Chairman of the National Media Council, NMC, said that the relationship between the NMC and the media in the country is a close and integrative one, through which all stakeholders are working together within a common system to deliver the strategic objectives and maintain the national achievements and gains.

Dr. Sultan Al Jaber was speaking at a session titled 'National Media: An Advanced System', during the fourth edition of the Emirati Media Forum, held at Dubai World Trade Centre, with the participation of key local and Arab media outlets.

He said: " Media in the UAE is a pure national media and is committed to its national duties. It has always maintained remarkable stances in support of national work and sustainable development. The Emirati media has shown rapid response while dealing with various challenges and developments witnessed by the country and the region in the recent years.'' "The scale of these challenges has been great, but we have learned from our leadership that each challenge also presents an opportunity and through the support of the leadership and the tremendous efforts of brothers and sisters in the media sector, we were able to transform all these challenges into opportunities," Dr. Al Jaber noted.

He explained that the media in the UAE is founded on principled national values, established by the founder of the UAE, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

Dr. Al Jaber said that protecting the country's achievements and enhancing its image in the international community as a major player, would contribute to promoting security, peace, stability, development and human civilisation. These, he added, are the most important principles ''we seek in the media sector to consolidate globally.'' He drew attention to the relationship between the traditional media and the new media, affirming that it should be an integrative one, especially the new media is widely spread, while the traditional media remains an essential source to be consulted to verify the credibility of news and information.

He called on the media institutions to continue develop a rich, diverse content that reflects the country's achievements and addresses readers locally and globally.

"We must all preserve our national gains and defend the firm positions taken by our nation," he reiterated. "There is no other choice other than presenting our image and conveying our voice to the world in a way that reflects our identity, culture, position and stature, and if this is not accomplished, there will be a gap."

Dr. Al Jaber referred to a number of examples and phenomena imposed by the digital media such as "Twiplomacy" or "Twitter Diplomacy" when a person can address and send his messages to millions and influence their views quickly and almost immediately . He also spoke about the great capabilities provided by artificial intelligence, which is able to play an important role in producing and analysing news.

He emphasised that despite all the rapid technological progress, creativity and human innovation remain the backbone and that the distinguished content imposes itself.

He also shed light on the important role played by universities and academic institutions to update the curricula in the media specialisations to qualify and prepare graduates to enter the labour market, while calling them to align learning outcomes to the country's long-term strategic plans.

Dr. Al Jaber pointed to the important role and responsibility of the active youth on various digital communication platforms, which helps them deliver the UAE message on tolerance, positivity and rejection of violence and terrorism.