General Manager of Dar Al Sharq, Abdullatif Al Mahmoud (right), presenting a memento to Chairman of the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority, H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, at the 2nd Media Expo Qatar 2012 at the Doha International Exhibition Center yesterday. Also seen are Editor-in-Chief of Al Sharq Jaber Al Harami and Deputy General Manager of Dar Al Sharq Ibrahim Al Sayed.
BY RAYNALD C RIVERA
DOHA: Newspapers need to forge ahead in providing high quality news and deeper analysis of issues for them to compete with the burgeoning online media, says Chairman of the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority, H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah.
Al Attiyah was addressing local media yesterday at the opening of the second Media, Advertising and Printing Technology Exhibition (Media Expo Qatar 2012), organised by Dar Al Sharq at the Doha International Exhibition Center.
“As we have seen in some countries, newspapers have been replaced by electronic media, newspapers therefore need to develop themselves by providing high quality news and deeper analysis to their readers to compete with e-media which is providing news fast,” said Al Attiyah.
Having come from a generation which loves reading, Al Attiyah expressed the hope that newspapers and books would be able to compete with electronic media with the emergence of advanced technology.
“I can’t imagine a world without newspapers and books,” he said after touring the various stalls representing television channels, media houses, printing companies, government entities and newspaper companies including
Al Sharq newspaper where he was provided a glimpse of the newspaper’s evolution from its oldest copies to the latest technology it uses. He also feted Dar Al Sharq, organisers of the expo, as it celebrates its 25th anniversary.
“I congratulate Al Sharq on the occasion of its silver jubilee; it has been playing a big role in national development. I hope all Qatari newspapers will develop and will be able to compete regionally making its presence felt in various social media such as Twitter and Facebook.”
He lauded the expo saying “it gives the new generation an idea of the latest on printing and digital technology and how useful they are to media.”
Aside from state-of-the-art technology, one of the attractions at the expo is a collection of ancient cameras, projectors, typewriters and printers including newspapers dating back over a hundred years.
The three-day expo serves as a platform for people representing media organisations and technology providers to share latest advances in media-related technology worldwide and discuss urgent issues concerning media in the region.
The meeting of the General Secretariat of the Gulf Press Union and a seminar on ‘Syria… Live Facts’ highlighted yesterday’s programme, along with an exciting first round of the Sudoku contest in which big prizes are at stake.
Events scheduled today include the second round of the Sudoku competition, Caricature contest and ‘Symposium on public relations and the media.’ The Peninsula
