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News Varieties
Written By: Thuria Ghaleb
Article Date: Apr 26, 2008 - 7:21:37 AM
Faris Sanabani speaks about the essential role that media can play in development.
Our country is struggling for development, and [media] are responsible for correctly conveying its message to others so we can give such country a better chance to be improved in various sectors, says Faris Sanabani, publisher of the Yemen Observer, in a workshop held by the al-Saleh Social Foundation for Development in the Orphans Sector on April 21.
A large number of journalists and press were invited to the workshop concentrating on discussing the roles played by media in activating development efforts. “I accepted to participate in this workshop when I felt that the foundation’s employees had started to realize the important role of media in development,” said Sanabani. “The world now realizes what the importance of media is in improving countries. I found around 631,000,000 articles on media and development when I was preparing my paper for this workshop.”
The Minster of Information, Dr. Hassan al-Lawzi, confirmed that media represents nothing without playing an effective role in any country’s development. “We confessed that have we partially failed to follow the charitable developmental efforts made in a foundation like this and others, but we promise you to began a new history in connecting with such efforts,” he said.
“We strive for media to play its correct role in developing this country,” said Dr. Mutahar al-Abasi, Deputy Minister of Planning and International Cooperation. “We hope journalists and people working in media convey messages for their country properly without exaggerating small news to make it big, which affects development in this country.”
The recent role of the media has changed from a supportive role to a basic factor in the development process. However, sometimes media has a bad affect on such processes and plays a destructive role against development, Sanabani said.
According to Mr. Sanabani, a delegation of distinguished investors came to the Aden governorate in 2007 in order to establish important investment projects. “The day after their arrival, I was astonished to know that the investors who had just arrived the previous night had left at dawn. I then knew that they read some Yemeni newspapers which described the bad situation of investment in Yemen, warning investors of establishing projects in Yemen.” The efforts made in such charitable developmental fields should be obligatory in media and journalism jobs, said Faris al-Saqqaf, Chairman of the General Authority for Books (GAB). “We should not consider such work as a voluntarily one for our extra time. We should pay more attention to these activities,” he said.
The al-Saleh Social Foundation for Development is a non-governmental and non-profitable organization. It aims to be an active partner that participates with a backing role in the sustainable development operation by establishing and supporting social development projects, as well as providing the basic services which lead to improving the social living conditions throughout Yemen.
