Ali bin Mohammed Al Rumaihi, Bahraini Information Minister and President of the 14th Gulf Radio and Television Festival, has honoured five Emirati media personnel for their outstanding role in supporting the Gulf Radio and TV Authority.

The Bahraini Information Minister honoured Ibrahim Al Abed, Ali Obaid Al Hameli, Ali Said Al-Sharif, Said Khamis Al-Sharqi and Mohammed Al-Joker.

The minister also honoured 24 GCC media personnel during the opening of the 14th Gulf Radio and Television Festival in the presence of GCC Secretary-General, Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani.

The Bahraini Minister highlighted the importance of the theme of this year's festival, "One Media Vision", in highlighting the growing awareness of the need to unite the media discourse and bolster cooperation to ward off threats to regional security and stability.

"The current challenges require innovated media tools that keep abreast of the fast-paced developments in the media and telecommunication sector," he said. He pointed out that the increasing reliance on the internet as a source of news and information forces new challenges on the Arab traditional media, in terms of speed of news publication accurately and credibly, in facing states of chaos witnessed by many social media.

He noted the need to keep pace with the gigantic information and communication technology revolution in light of the increase of internet users in the world to 3.2 billion, representing 43.4% of the world's population, stressing its serious role in the dissemination of rumors, cyber terrorism or its impact on economies.

Source:WAM