"Even the huge companies that had failed to keep up to date with the new technological advancement and digital transformation have been forced out of business and this is applicable to journalism and press these days," stressed the Editor-in-Chief of Gulf Times Faisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka.
He was speaking at a panel discussion on 'Modern Trends in Journalism' as part of The Forum of Journalism Colleges in Arab World, organized by Al Jazeera Media Institute in partnership with Qatar University (QU) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco).
Al-Mudahka said that journalism should actively benefit from the data available online and employ the various digital platforms to create engaging and validated authentic content. "We have a good experience of such issues in the period leading to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, where foreign media attacks against Qatar started many years before the event and lasted even during the event itself.
"Accordingly, we now know that there is a pressing need to talk to the different peoples of the world in their own languages. We used to have our own platforms in Arabic such as Al Jazeera channels, which address the Arab world. However, more outreach efforts are needed to fully address people from different parts of the world," he noted.
The editor-in-chief of Gulf Times gave another example applicable to the events unfolding in Palestine and the need to use artificial intelligence and the various tools available on the internet to generate informative content based on the available validated data to promote public awareness on the involved issues of the ongoing events and their background.
He pointed out that there is a big gap between the required skills and the currently adopted approaches in local press. Accordingly, he stressed the pressing need to integrate the new sophisticated tools, including artificial intelligence (AI), into the daily practices of journalists to further boost their cause and content.
"What happened during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 regarding the attacks against Qatar is currently happening regarding the current situation in Palestine with the Israeli Electronic Army, operating mostly from outside Israel, circulating around 90% of the false news and misleading information about Palestinians," al-Mudahka said.
He said that journalists and reporters have to be well-trained in the new methods and acquire enough information about the key issues of the region while being able to use the modern online tools to carry on their research and create the targeted content.
In the meantime, he saw the need to introduce strict legislations to protect the intellectual property of the local press and publishing companies, as their stories are often taken by big internet companies and posted without any permission due to the lack of protective measures. He said that the states should introduce protective measures for their local companies to enable them to avoid the potential losses of gain due to such illegal practices of some international companies.
Further, he saw that introducing totally new digital media platforms is preferred on the digital transformation of the existing one. Speaking at the panel discussion was also Dr Zahra Harb, senior lecturer in International Journalism at City, University of London and Dr Basim Tweissi, head of journalism programme at Doha Institutes for Graduate Studies. The panel was moderated by Mohamed Shazly, Senior Producer at AJ+.
Dr Harb stressed that there is a trend to link the academic studies in journalism with the actual practice of the profession, where future journalists are trained to create informative content suitable for all digital platforms and benefit from the AI tools while responding to the needs of the public based on the proper ethical principles. This could be achieved through adopting extra-curricular activities.
Dr Tweissi said the field of journalism is facing big challenges these days, and journalism colleges and institutes should lead the efforts to development and innovation to address such challenges and help transform the industry, especially with the economic difficulties companies are facing.