Minister of Information to students of the College of Information: “Technology is everything in Media” [Archives:2003/02/Local News]

BASSAM JAMEEL AL-SAQQAF
YEMEN TIMES STAFF
Under the title, “Specialized Journalism in Yemen…Present & Future”, the College of Information organized last Wednesday a seminar about various aspects of specialized journalism. Mr. Hussain Al-Awadhi Minister of Information attended the seminar and delivered a speech in the inauguration ceremony about the dimensions of media in Yemen and the problems facing it. He said: “The current era is that of specialized journalism, and today there is no place for a general journalist. Technology is everything in media, and professionalism is directly linked to technology because those who have higher and more advanced technology skills can cover a wider range of readers and can surpass others. And this is what is termed as ‘media globalization’.”He confessed that the present government has suffered tremendously from the September 11th attack and its implications on its plans and strategies. About freedom of the press he commented: “We cover the activities of opposition parties with complete transparency. For example, we have openly broadcast the declaration of the Islah opposition party in which it accuses the official media of lying.” And he also said that taking some chief editors to court instead of suspending them or closing their newspapers directly is a good practice of democracy, and is a measure of the freedom of press because it allows the judicial system to do its job.
He also said that the Yemeni media has moved into a construction and development phase and he pointed to the Information Ministry’s plan to establish media centers in Aden, Hodeida and Hadramout, plus others in Jordan and Egypt in the near future. He also said that the National Channel’s broadcast would cover Paris, London, Eastern Europe and Eastern Asia. And that the final touches are applied to inaugurate the Youth Broadcast Channel One in Sana’a and Two in Hodeida. He also mentioned the technological development in Saba News Agency and in the governmental newspapers and the cultural, economic and political supplements published by the agency. He also pointed at the printing press project of Al-Thawra that would print 50,000 copies per hour.
About the obstacles that face the Yemeni media he said that the media’s vague policy and its moody decisions do not leave space to steady development or improvement and that a lot should be done in this regard.
In his conclusion, he promised to renew the tennis court in the College of Information and to reduce the costs of graduation projects by 50%. He also advised students to work hard and to be brave in facing the real world.
The seminar was attended by Mr. Hussain Ba Saleem Deputy Minister of Information, Dr. Ahmed Aqabat, Dean of the College of Information, Abdulrahman Baggash Editing Secretary of Al-Thawra newspaper, Mohammed Saeed Salem, Information General Manager at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Dr. Mohammed Al-Sameeri Public Relations Professor at the Sanaa University and a large number of teachers and students.

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