ictQATAR Hosts "Media Connected"

Journalism is not dead or dying, but it is evolving rapidly because of the great impact technology has had on the way people receive news. This was the shared sentiment of the esteemed speakers and panelists that participated in Media Connected: An ICT Forum for Journalists, hosted by the Supreme Council of Information and Communication technology, ictQATAR, on Saturday, January 17 at Al Sharq Village & Spa.

The forum, which was attended by nearly 200 journalists, communications professionals and students, brought together leading journalists and new media experts from the region and around the world. It addresses the latest trends in information and communication technology and what do they mean for the future of journalism.

"As we look ahead, we do not know what the news industry of the future will look like any more than five years ago anybody could imagine a concept called citizen journalism or You Tube. But we do know that professionals and citizens who communicate through the media are motivated by a dedication to truth, transparency and liberty. This forum is just the start of an important conversation," said Dr. Hessa Al Jaber, ictQATAR's Secretary General. ""At ictQATAR we are working to foster a technology-friendly environment that will introduce innovative approaches to how we communicate, live and work."

Speaking at the event were Tom Standage, Business Editor at The Economist and Leonard Brody, Co-Founder and CEO of NowPublic, a rapidly growing media company based on citizen-generated news. Standage addressed the ways reporters can better cover technology and its impact on society, and the trends he sees emerging. Brody shared how his company is using technology to bbring news to wide audiences and the impact he believes technology will have on the journalism field.

Richard Roth, Senior Associate Dean for Journalism at Northwestern University in Qatar moderated a dynamic panel discussion that addressed the impact of new media - blogs, citizen journalism, social networking, etc. - on the field of journalism. Participating in the panel were Jawad Abassi, Founder and General Manager of Arab Advisors; Mohamed Nanabhay, Head of New Media at Al Jazeera Network; Ali Al-Shawaf, Senior Broadcast Journalist, BBC Arabic; and Ahmed Ashour, Co-Founder of Al-Jazeera Talk.

"The future of journalism will involve the audience much more, as sources of information and as participants in the news-gathering operations. When every cell phone can capture photographs, video and audio, it virtually assures that every event on earth will be recorded by someone, somewhere. Journalism will be more robust because of it; neither blogs nor millions of individual Web sites will eliminate the great media brands of our day. How we will get the news seems like it will be principally on cell phones for breaking news and on the Web for depth, but who knows what technology might come along in a year or two," said Roth.

Northwestern University Qatar, Al-Arab Newspaper and Al-Jazeera Talk are supporting sponsors of Media Connected.