Dignitaries participating in the event included Ali bin Mohammed Al Rumaihi, the Minister of Information Affairs, Bahrain; Osama Heikal, Minister of Information Affairs, Egypt; Nabil Al-Hamar, Adviser to the King of Bahrain for Media Affairs; and Egyptian media expert Imad El Din Adeeb. Also attending were writers, media professionals and officials of media institutions and government organisations as well as academics from the Arab world.

She spoke about how the pandemic has fundamentally changed the way people communicate across the world in addition to the shifts it has brought about in the world of media. Technology has collapsed time and space, fast-tracking developments that were expected to happen only in the next ten years, she noted.

This year’s Arab Media Forum organised remotely by the Dubai Press Club is another example of this transformation, she said. While previous average attendance at the annual forum ranged between 2,000 and 3,000, the first remote edition of the event in 2020 had more than 10,000 followers from different parts of the world.

Al Marri stressed that media organisations that do not accelerate their digital transformation will face threats to their competitiveness, especially in today’s rapidly evolving environment. However, she cautioned that despite the significant advantages of a digital environment, it provides a fertile environment for rumours, fake news and disinformation, which media need to guard against. She stressed the importance of raising the Arab media sector’s preparedness to adapt and thrive in a post-COVID world.