The Gulf University concluded the sessions of the International Conference on Digital Media and Social Transformations in the Arab Gulf, which came over two consecutive days under the generous patronage of His Excellency the Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Administration of the Gulf University, Professor Mona Rashid Al-Zayani, and with the participation of 49 researchers from various Arab countries.
In this regard, Professor Dr. Mona Rashid Al-Zayani stated that the Gulf University is proud to host a number of international conferences in which a group of researchers from different countries of the world participate, which contributes to reaching a set of scientific solutions based on studies of the issues facing our Gulf society, confirming that this type of conference It reflects the interest of the Kingdom of Bahrain and its institutions in supporting the scientific environment and research achievements.
For his part, the President of the Gulf University, Dr. Muhannad Al-Mashhadani, praised the positive response that the conference received at the Arab level and all the valuable research presented by Arab media organizations, in addition to the student research whose level dazzled all the participants, and which proved the level of skills and outputs of the university’s students.
Al-Mashhadani added: “The excellence of our students today in presenting their research puts before us a greater challenge and goals for the future, and we assure that we will generalize this experience in all upcoming international conferences, as we will always give our students an opportunity to present their research in international conferences to encourage them and highlight their distinguished efforts.”
In the same context, Gulf University Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Hisham Al-Marsafawi, said: “The participation of our students in a group of research during this conference reflects positively on a number of aspects, including the student’s general and leadership skills, as well as on the labor market, as the impact is not limited to the scientific and research aspects.”
On its first day, the conference discussed a range of issues such as digital citizenship and the role of social media sites in promoting the visual media identity of countries and in disseminating concepts of moderation and moderation, as well as its impact on societal issues and on achieving sustainable development goals. The phenomenon of electronic blackmail and digital media poisoning was also analyzed.
The sessions of the second day of the conference dealt with the role of the media in promoting the values of cultural diversity, the role of awareness campaigns on communication sites in health education for Bahraini women, the ethics of writing and publishing on social media sites, in addition to professional charters for public relations in the digital age and the trends of public diplomacy practitioners towards interactive media as well as the influence Electronic campaigns on the quality of life in light of the social transformations in the Arab Gulf.
At the conclusion of the conference’s activities, a set of recommendations were put forward, which emphasized the importance of setting the subject “Media Education” as a basic course for middle school students, and the need to activate the Charter of Honor and the Arab Cooperation Protocol between major media institutions to allow rapid, correct and disciplined circulation of news, in addition to adopting disclosure policies. And transparency in all institutions, especially governmental and official ones, which prevents the circulation of false news.
The recommendations committee also indicated the need to activate the culture of popular diplomacy in all areas and digital media, given that the citizen today represents his community, his country and his nation, and to activate laws to protect society from electronic crimes through digital media, and firmly confront the promoters of rumors and their transmitters, raise awareness of information security and deal with reliable data and sites, The committee also invited, through this conference, all departments and faculties of communication and media to review their academic programs and work on renewing them in order to keep pace with accelerated digital updates and the requirements of the labor market.
The conference organizing committee announced the launch of the name of the third scientific conference of the Gulf University in October 2022 under the title “Institutional Communication in the Arab Gulf, Experiences and Challenges.”
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