Fatima Muhammad

Saudi Gazette

 

JEDDAH — The absence of a body to issue licenses and monitor broadcasting content has resulted in the launch of hundreds of channels in the Arab region that lack credibility and accuracy and therefore posed a threat to public safety, noted experts attending the Saudi Media Forum at Jeddah Hilton on Wednesday.



The participants were unanimous in stressing on the need to organize what they described as a “mess” in the television broadcasting in the Arab region.



Minister of Haj and Acting Minister of Culture and Information Bandar Hajjar said the current era is marked by the proliferation of a vast number of channels that cause discrimination and therefore there is a need to study ways to organize the profession.



Social media in the Arab region, he added, has also been misused by some to create hatred and division, which also has to be looked at and examined. There are 1,300 channels that are broadcasting in the Arab region. Though the channels that have proven harmful are a few in number, yet they constitute a threat to the region’s identity and unity, said Salah Eddine Maaoui, director general of the Arab States Broadcasting Union. “The diversity in broadcasting has provided for freedom of speech and given the public more options, yet it has brought about numerous challenges.”



He said a proposal was presented in 2008 to the Arab League for a framework that would have organized broadcasting in the regions and set regulations. However, it has not yet been put into action. “We stress that this framework should be revised and presented once again to the council of Arab ministers of information to approve it as a regularization document,” said Maaoui.



There have been some initiatives for creating observatory commissions that monitor broadcasting. These commissions were set up in Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon and recently in Saudi Arabia. “These are positive individual moves. We do not want to censor content, but there is a clear need for regulations. Our region is the only place in the world that lacks such regulations.”



On the other hand, Javad Mottaghi, secretary-general of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, said though regulations are important yet attention should be given to content. “We have to win our audience, they are the ones who choose what to watch. They should be part of the decision-making process. ... This way parents and citizens will be overseeing content,” said Mottaghi.



He added, “We have to use technology and develop local content to reduce the amount of global content fed to our children at home.”