Arab Media Forum stresses press as voice of the people

The Arab media is now paying greater attention to voice of the people, said participants at the 10th Arab Media Forum in Dubai last week. At the event, attended by 150 members of the media from 40 countries and more than 1,000 journalists from the Arab world, the United Arab Emirates' prime minister, Dubai Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, said that Arab world shouldn't fall behind the globalizing world. Maryam Bin Fahad, executive director of the Dubai Press Club, said in a statement that media plays a significant role in creating public opinion about problems in the Arab world. The media will continue to be the voice of the people, she added. Egyptian journalist Fehmi Huveydi said that Turkey is not only a bridge between the East and West, but has also become a decision-making center. "The (ruling) Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has changed the marginal state of the Arab world in Turkey," said Huveydi. "We all remember what Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan did in Davos" in 2009, when he had an angry exchange with Israeli President Shimon Peres. Huveydi added, "We all know Europe's attitude towards the Arab world. Turkey has taken a different path, and this has been welcomed both in the West and the Arab world."