7 Apr 2011

EGYPT / MEDIA FORUM

The UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) along with the Arab League and the Anna Lindh Foundation opened a forum Wednesday in Cairo focusing on media in the Arab World in the face of ongoing regional changes, and its role in relations with the west. UNTV

Posted at: April 7, 2011 5:26 pm

Duration: 01:57

Available in: SD

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STORY: EGYPT / MEDIA FORUM 
TRT: 1:57
SOURCE: UNTV
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / ENGLISH / NATS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE

DATELINE: 6 APRIL 2011, CAIRO, EGYPT

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot, Arab League Headquarters
2. Wide shot, Conference room
3. Cutaway, audience
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Amre Moussa, Secretary-General, League of Arab States:
"We should not ignore the important role that media should play in advancing understanding and mutual respect between the diversity of the Arab and Western worlds. This is the true ammunition capable of opposing the calls for radicalism and intolerance coming from both civilizations." 
5. Cutaway, audience
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Jorge Sampaio, High Representative, Alliance of Civilizations, United Nations:
"We witnessed vast mobilizations of people towards social change. Some have called such mobilizations "Twitter" or "Facebook" revolutions, but in doing so they have in many ways forgotten that before social media there is social trust. I mean, trust between people that technology just helps to consolidate."
7. Close up, Ethar Kamal "tweets" in audience
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Ethar Kamal, Social Media Journalist and Activist:
"It's a very good time to be a journalist right now because so much is happening. You have so much responsibility and so much opportunity to actually not just create awareness, but provoke thought, provoke debate. And as an Egyptian citizen too, it's hard to find the balance between being an objective journalist and your own activism, not to blur the lines between them, especially when you use social media, like Twitter and Facebook. But it's a really good line, I'm really enjoying where we are right now, I'm looking forward to what Egypt is going to look like, we're going to change."
9. Med shot, T-shirts for sale at Tahrir Square
10. Med shot, youth gather at Tahrir Square

STORYLINE:

The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) along with the Arab League and the Anna Lindh Foundation convened a forum focusing on media in the Arab world in the face of ongoing regional changes, and its role in relations with the West.

The forum, which started on yesterday (6 Apr), is taking place at the League of Arab States headquarters next to Tahrir Square in the Egyptian capital Cairo.

A number of international dignitaries including the Secretary-General of the Arab League and current Egyptian presidential candidate, Amre Moussa, former President of Portugal and High Representative for the UNAOC Jorge Sampaio, President of the Anna Lindh Foundation and Counselor to the King of Morocco André Azoulay and Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation Gunilla Carlsson spoke at the forum.

Addressing about 150 policymakers, media managers, journalists, and civil society representatives from around the world gathered at the forum, the Arab League's Amre Moussa talked about the importance of the media in "advancing understanding and mutual respect between the diversity of the Arab and Western worlds."

According to UNAOC, recent events on the Arab street demonstrate the crucial role tools connecting people and media play in the region. Head of the organization Jorge Sampaio called the "vast mobilizations of people towards social change" Twitter or Facebook revolutions.

Ethar Kamal, an Egyptian social media journalist and activist participating in the forum, highlighted the political and social changes taking place in the country adding that "you have so much responsibility and so much opportunity to actually not just create awareness, but provoke thought, provoke debate."

Earlier this year, Hosni Mubarak, who led Egypt as president for three decades, stepped down on 11 February after weeks of anti-government protests by crowds calling for greater democracy and respect of human rights. During the protests, there were numerous reports of attacks against journalists and correspondents covering events in Egypt.