‘Conference to address media’s role in facing terrorist propaganda’

AMMAN — Media experts are scheduled to convene on October 24 to come up with recommendations on addressing the challenges facing journalism and improving its role in facing terrorist propaganda.

The conference, titled “Media and Current Challenges” and held by the Jordan Press Association, will be attended by journalists working for newspapers and news website, representatives of newspapers’ management and media experts, Tareq Momani, the syndicate’s president, told The Jordan Times on Wednesday.

“The conference will be held at a time during which we are witnessing an increased focus on social media and other media tools by terrorist groups to promote their agendas and schemes… Participants will seek to come up with recommendations on how media can effectively face and tackle such attempts,” Momani said.

“Social media tools in particular are becoming increasing popular. Therefore, one of the conference’s sessions will concentrate on news portals and social media,” he added.

Other topics to be discussed include the contemporary situation of newspapers and news websites, future challenges for media, the repercussions of regional political developments on media outlets, the challenges facing private and public media, and the political, social and cultural role that electronic media and competition with dailies plays, said Momani, who is also chief editor of Al Rai Arabic daily. 

The conference, which will attract some 120 participants, will also shed light on the future role of social media networks in news, and on potential jobs created by these networks. The aim is to address and attempt to find solutions to the financial difficulties media outlets face, he added.

“We expect a set of recommendations to be issued and we will follow up on the implementation of these recommendations with concerned entities,” said Momani.