Arab youth call for media that reflect their interests

2009-10-09

Young Arabs want streamlined media that meets their expectations, and participants in a Tunis seminar delved into how this media model might look.

By Mona Yahia for Magharebia in Tunis – 09/10/09

[Abdelhak Senna/AFP/Getty Images] Seminar attendees discussed ways the media could improve coverage of youth issues.

Young people from all over the Maghreb and the wider Arab world met in Tunis on Monday (October 5th) for a three-day seminar on moulding the media to match the aspirations of Arab youth.

Delegates from Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Qatar, Egypt, Yemen, Palestine and Sudan drafted a number of recommendations at the event, which took place under the auspices of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Physical Education in collaboration with the Arab League.

"The topics discussed were important and motivated us to exchange expertise with participants from various countries, and discuss with them means of developing youth-oriented information in the Arab world, especially with the appearance of other media that can threaten youth," said Karima Weslati, a member of the Tunisian media, who took part in the event.

An Arab League representative, Heni Mostafa, fleshed out some of the participants' concerns about Information Age pitfalls of which young people should be wary.

"Satellite channels are a real threat," he said. "Arab youth should be aware of that. The sky is open. Some channels are sub-standard and offer no meaningful content. Others are important and offer quality content."

The participants came up with a number of recommendations for the media and Arab youth, calling for the creation of a clearer definition of interactive media and young people, while also urging the media to streamline its content dedicated to Arab youth. They also called on all parties to refrain from using youth in negative activities, and endorsed the establishment of a new information strategy.

The seminar tackled three themes: keeping the media in tune with young Arabs' causes, developing information channels for Arab youth, and examining information oriented toward Arab youth in an age of cultural globalisation.

"Each Arab community is … capable of raising the abilities of young people so that they can adapt to new information and thereby be spared problems such as terrorism and extremism," said Mohammed Moutaoua, a participant from Jordan.

Participants in a workshop devoted to developing information channels for Arab youth suggested involving young people in making the content that targets them, as well as promoting dialogue among youth.

In a workshop on Arab youth, the media and cultural globalisation, participants called for educating young people on democracy, and for enhancing the presence of women in the media world.

In the seminar's opening session, Tunisian Minister of Youth, Sports and Physical Education Samir Abidi said that all Arab states should stand firm in the face of the challenges presented by new developments in the media and find efficient means of dealing with them.

Abidi stressed the role of information in keeping abreast of the quick changes witnessed by Arab youth in the field of information technology, and urged the media to present a clearer picture of young people's aspirations related to employment, education and health.

Last year, Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali suggested that 2010 be designated an international year for youth. He proposed to reconvene in 2010 and invited the United Nations and other international organisations to hold an international youth conference in Tunis like the one held in November 2008.