She said Bahrain was and is still the victim of false news which misled the public opinion, stressing the key role of official news agencies in disclosing news objectively, responding to lies and laying bare fabricated news.
She was speaking as she opened the 40th conference of the Federation of Arab News Agencies (FANA) General Assembly, organised by Bahrain News Agency (BNA) on December 26th and 27th.
She invited the Arab news agencies to take part in the 3rd International Media Summit which will be hosted by Bahrain in November 2014.
She underlined the significance of the conference in exchanging views and boosting cooperation among the Arab news agencies amid important regional and international changes witnessed by the media and communication sector.
She said that the appearance of thousands of “popular news agencies” on the Internet and social media networks has put official news agencies, mainly international ones, in embarrassing situations as they have fallen in the trap of fast dissemination of news at the expense of precision, objectivity and professionalism.
Those changes, she affirmed, have caused harm to many countries, including Bahrain which was and is still the victim of quickly-spread news, most of which are false and misleading.
“Information has become a more dangerous weapon than before. Governments need it to back development of their countries, defend achievements and face new regional and international challenges,” she stressed, pointing out new fights with its basic fuel-the media- and not only economic challenges.
She called on Arab news agencies to adopt a new approach which is not restricted only to providing the community with news but also works on rectifying the path through objectivity in dealing with news and responding to fabricated ones.
She urged to defend countries’ interests by engaging positively in the so called “states’ media security”.
FANA Secretary General Dr. Farid Ayyar pointed out the federation’s pioneering role in building an international system to defend news agencies and journalists.
He underscored the key role played by the media in laying the bases of knowledge, fighting injustice and terrorism and promoting freedom and human rights while adhering to the ethics of the profession.
BNA Director Muhannad Suleiman underscored, in his speech, the importance of the conference in bolstering pan-Arab media cooperation amid fast-paced developments in this field.
He urged to rally ranks and adopt modern visions to confront professional irregularities.
He condemned the politicized stance of some foreign news agencies and their adoption of a unilateral vision.
He lauded cooperation of the Arab news agencies with Bahrain in revealing the truth and responding to pretences and fabricated ones being spread by biased foreign mass media against Bahrain to shake up its security, stability and social unity.