The chairman of the National Council for visual and Audiovisual Media, Abdul Hadi Mahfouz, held a meeting at the council's headquarters, in the building of the Ministry of information, which included the editors-in-chief of media websites, its representatives and the follow-up committee.
- Demand a special syndicate for electronic media and free media.
- Health insurance and medicine...
- Periodic meetings in the provinces.
- Commitment to the fact that electronic media is a visual media based on the text of Article (4) of the Audiovisual Media Law, which stipulates that every light or sound signal that does not bear the character of personal correspondence is considered a visual and audible media. Therefore, the reference of this media is the National Media Council.
In the discussions that took place in the parliamentary media committee on electronic media in the draft unified media law, the National Council for visual and Audiovisual Media was tasked to take the information and news from the websites until the law is issued in Parliament. The National Media Council was given direct reporting powers to free the media from political discretion, provided that the websites exercise free and responsible media based on the media controls provided for by the visual and audio law and that the National Media Council follow up and conduct censorship according to the following items: a clean criminal record – the owner of the site – the editor – in-chief-the location of the site. The website should work on the basis of correct, accurate and reliable information from a reliable source. Objectivity. Transparency. Stay away from sectarian excitement, political excitement, threatening the security of society, offending others, and promoting rumors and false news. In the event that these sites do not comply with the conditions of this practice, the National Media Council withdraws the flag and news and refers the offending site to the judicial and security authorities.
Indeed, this is what has been done so far for the offending sites. There are also several complaints received from the Western Bekaa against one of the websites targeting a religious reference there with false news. The council is studying these complaints and will take the appropriate decision on them.
A complaint was also received from the head of the Editors Guild, friend Joseph Al-qusaifi, against one of the websites whose owner impersonates a pseudonym and launches defamation campaigns against a figure active in the field of encouraging sports projects and helping them.
Electronic media is not a means of fraud. This will not be allowed by the National Media Council. I commend here an article published in Al-Diyar newspaper today that deals with confronting electronic pandemonium and the phenomenon of fraud and fraud in promoting cheating.
I was stopped by a statement from the Press Syndicate talking about impersonation. I don't know what the statement means by impersonating and stopping it by calling for membership in the press syndicate to confront this phenomenon.
Here I want to point out that the reference of the written media is for the Press Syndicate and not the visual and electronic media. The written media has declined a lot and written media institutions have been closed for several reasons, including the high price of paper and printing and the decline in newspaper sales. And also, mainly, the reader and listener have become in the position of dispensing with the written press in general, because they fall on the news the moment it is released through electronic and radio media. As a member of the press syndicate, as I own a daily newspaper, The ’Sun‘, and I have stopped it for these reasons and because of the inability to continue funding it, I say that the continuation of the written press depends on it turning into investigative, analytical and extrapolation journalism for the future and not for news journalism. And here I would like to say that social and electronic media have turned every Lebanese into a journalist. What is important here is practice within the framework of the law.
Since electronic media is the future of the media, and this is where the parliamentary media committee that prepared the draft unified media law stopped, I am surprised by the information that reached me that the administration and Justice Committee torpedoed the content of the draft law and jumped from seeing the media variables by neglecting electronic media and participated in the media censorship reference institutions that should be the subject of censorship. I am surprised by the position of the media expert, who proposed the role of the law and participated in the parliamentary media committee, former deputy lawyer Ghassan mukheiber, who is currently involved in drafting amendments in the administration and Justice Committee. The martyred president Rafik Hariri was keen to ensure that the media reference and the Supervisory Authority include those with experience and good reputation, lawyers and engineers, and not the owners of the institutions whose performance is supposed to be monitored.
In any case, it is not easy to cancel websites, nor the National Media Council, nor the Ministry of information, nor the role of the director general in the Ministry of information, nor the National Agency, nor the radio, nor the studies office. What is needed is the activation of institutions. The stakes here are on His Excellency President Joseph Aoun, on the state of President Nabih Berri and on the state of president Nawaf Salam. And also for your solidarity.
This meeting pays tribute to the courageous position of Dr. Lina Al-Tabal of the National Tripoli and stands by her side, highlighting her activities and supporting her in the media and popularly. Congratulations to Tripoli on this fight.
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