Doha International Book Fair hosts seminar on media’s role in shaping reality

Within the cultural program of the 30th Doha International Book Fair, Al Jazeera Center for Studies organised a seminar on the role of media in shaping and synthesizing reality, attended by a large group of visitors to the exhibition held at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center.
Professor of Public Relations and Mass Communication at Qatar University, Mohamed Kirat; a researcher at Al Jazeera Center for Studies, Dr. Liqa Makki; and Professor of Journalism at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, Dr. Nawaf Al Tamimi, attended the seminar.
Professor Mohamed Kirat talked about media institutions’ policies, goals, mission, and strategy as a socio-cultural and religious climate, pointing out that when conflicts occur, media institutions provide only what they want and not what the public wants.
He also touched on global media blocs that have become affecting the media industry, pointing to the presence of interference from countries to influence the objectivity and credibility of the media to achieve its political goals.
Dr. Nawaf Al Tamimi indicated that some create a reality that is contrary to the truth to appear to be public opinion, while the real public opinion is marginalised, as the virtual reality is destroyed so that the right is misled by falsehood and the real public opinion becomes strange while the fake and artificial public opinion is synthesized and exported as an alternative. He pointed out that the political authority that previously controlled the media, and with media openness and multimedia, it worked to dissect public opinion, so it was divided with two parts, a loyal public opinion that is easy to persuade and direct, and the opposition, which should be adopted either by enticement or intimidation.
In turn, Dr. Mekki spoke about the impact of modern developments and technologies in the media on the communication circle, which was a sender and recipient, so that everyone becomes a messenger and receiver at the same time, the consequence of which is that the public issue that politicians used to take over has become a public matter for others.
Also, the Doha International Book Fair hosted a workshop on common language mistakes in social media. The workshop sought to make the participants familiar with the most common language mistakes and to acquire them the correct writing skill with a simple and brief understanding of the relevant grammatical rules.