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Shaikh Abdullah to set the tone for Arab Media Summit

"Shaikh Abdullah and Mr Cramer will set the tone of the summit which is themed around the subject of 'War and the Media'. They will lead up to 500 top-level journalists and media personalities from both the West and the Arab worlds, who will gather in Dubai to dissect, debate and analyse the role of the modern war correspondent," Mona Al Marri, Executive Manager of Dubai Press Club and host of the event, said in a Press release.

Some of the participants include Pulitzer Prize winner Peter Arnett, who has spent a lifetime covering war and international crises for major American newspapers and most recently the Iraq war. Tim Sebastian, presenter of Hardtalk for BBC World, has also confirmed participation.

They will be joined by Dr Hanan Ashrawi, known to the world as the 'Voice of Palestine', and Azmi Bishara, Palestinian member of the Israeli Knesset, as also James Laurie, head of news at Star Group, noted media personality Robert Menard, Gavin Esler, BBC correspondent, Jamil Mroue, Editor, Daily Star, Lebanon, Guardian columnist Martin Woollacott, Senior Foreign Correspondent of The Times, Janine Didiovanni, and Khaled Al Maena, Editor-in-Chief of Saudi Arabia's Arab News Group.

The summit will debate the 'Role of Journalists in Modern War' such as: "Are war correspondents honest and responsible members of the global society who report truly, freely and fairly, or can they be mislead and are vulnerable to the propaganda machines of political opponents in war?"

"These are indeed major subjects that will be discussed at the first international gathering of top journalists following the Iraq war. It was during the war that questions like these emerged for public consideration," Mona Al Marri pointed out.

Another interesting subject to be discussed is the growing realisation that because of its power to mould public opinion - can media be described as the 'Ultimate Weapon of Mass Destruction'.

"The timing of the Arab Media Summit is critical. It follows the Iraq War, which has put the role of war reporting and government influence on the spotlight. We have, therefore, decided to devote all of the second day to 'Iraq As A Case Study'," said Mona Al Marri.

The summit aims to promote a better understanding and acceptance of each other's perspectives by both the West and the Arab worlds through the creation of a forum where opinion-makers from both sides can discuss issues in an open manner.

"In keeping with this objective, we will have frank discussions on Media Focus - whether the West still sees the Arab world through a distorted eye? We will also ask the delegates and speakers if they think the Arab media views Western media with disappointment and mistrust and how far apart are the two viewpoints? We will discuss ways to bridge the gap and reconcile the two perspectives," she added.

Mona Al Marri said that 200 of the world's topmost journalists and media personalities from overseas - mainly the West, along with 300 top-level regional and local media personalities will be attending this year's summit.

The grand finale of the Arab Media Summit 2003 would be the Arab Journalism Awards.

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