A Centre for Community Information will be established to monitor and analyse the content of what is published electronically and to conduct studies and research to provide decision-makers with necessary information regarding the work of their parties. This was revealed by Dr Abdulmunim bin Mansour al Hasani, Minister of Information, during the Second Media Family Forum on Wednesday night.
The forum organised by the Ministry of Information in cooperation with the Public Authority for Radio and Television (PART) and Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), was held under the auspices of His Highness Sayyid Haitham bin Tareq al Said, Minister of Heritage and Culture, at the Cultural
Centre of SQU.
Speaking on the occasion Dr Abdulmunim emphasised the importance of strategic partnership between the Ministry of Information, PART and SQU in organising the forum, in addition to the establishment of the Centre for Community Information to monitor and analyse the content of what is published electronically and to conduct studies and research to provide decision-makers with the necessary information regarding the work of their parties.
The programme ‘Skills to Deal with Media’ has been completed in five workshops over two years for directors of departments and sections of public relations and media in government institutions.
The minister said that the Omani media accomplished a number of achievements last year, including the signing of the first charter of ethics of the profession issued by the Omani Journalists Association (OJA), in cooperation with the Department of Information at SQU and Omani media institutions, in addition to the establishment of the Government Services Centre in the Secretariat of the Council of Ministers in strategic partnership with the Ministry of Information, PART and SQU.
He said that the winners of the media excellence competition were honoured recently.
The first batch of documents of the United Nations Media Archive was received in cooperation with the Foreign Ministry, as well as the issuance of Royal Decree 3/2018 to establish the Media Training Centre which is administratively and financially independent and works in cooperation with the Ministry of Information, PART and SQU, he added.
He said that this years preparations are on to activate the training centre after studying the needs of all the media institutions, in addition to a training programme for media students from higher education institutions in cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education and SQU, adding that preparations are also on to establish the first media library specialised on Omani media to be a reference for researchers and students in Omani media. The minister announced an award for Media Research from the Ministry of Information, and said that the establishment of the Omani Media Museum has begun. This museum will tell the story of human beings through the history of the press and the media in Oman, and what it says about the Sultanate.
The establishment of Media Dialogue Forum was announced to be a continuous meeting between specialists and media professionals, indicating that the Ministry of Information will hold a symposium on media, the child and the future with participation of a number of specialist writers for children.
Regarding the media excellence competition, the minister announced that this year’s competition will be dedicated to radio and television.
The ceremony included a drama show by Al Dan Group entitled ‘Humanisation of the Media’ to address the humanitarian concerns in the media, in addition to celebrating the Arab initiative ‘Makarim’, an
Arab initiative on the ethics of the media.
The event included a film on the march of the public press and the launching of a number of publications of the Ministry of Information such as Oman International Photography Competition, Oman in Len’s Memory, Citizenship in the Sultanate of Oman, Principles, Beginnings and Development, Sultanate of Oman Ranks High at Arab and International Indices, in addition to Omani Press Pioneers.
A number of the pioneers of the public press were honoured,
and media excellence awards in
the field of journalism were announced, as well as Omani media professionals who won Arab and international awards in 2017 were also honoured.
In addition to this a photo exhibition on the presence of Oman in international newspapers in the last century was also held. — ONA
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