الذيابي: إذا غابت المعلومة غاب الخبر.. والوصول إلى العالمية يتطلب سردية غير انفعالية

The editor-in-chief, colleague Jameel Al-Dhiabi, confirmed that local and global media lose their impact in the absence of information, or when it is directed solely inward without a regional or global perspective. He described Arab media as sometimes suffering from an emotional state instead of adopting a clear narrative to frame the journalistic story, report, or investigative piece.

During the session titled "Half an Hour of Disclosure: What Does Arab Media Need to Be Global?" as part of the Saudi Media Forum, he outlined the main requirements for Arab media to achieve international influence, the effectiveness of the current media discourse, and its ability to persuade the other audience, as part of the fifth edition of the Saudi Media Forum.

Al-Dhiabi pointed out that there is sometimes a lack of trust between the journalist and the source, emphasizing that "if information is absent, the news is absent."

He stressed that the globalization of media cannot be achieved through translation alone, explaining that the world today is "in one room," and that reaching global status requires a non-emotional narrative based on facts.

Al-Dhiabi emphasized the importance of maintaining credibility and reliability in media, even if it loses precedence, noting that this creates a deeper and more lasting impact in a "shaping world," and called for building a clear media identity and a stable editorial policy based on high professionalism and an influential footprint.

Translating the Arab story to a global scale

For his part, Dr. Mamoun Fandy, director of the London Institute for Global Strategy, said during his participation in Al-Dhiabi's session that decision-makers in the West view Arab media from the perspective of "the story," explaining that economic issues coming from influential countries like Saudi Arabia receive special attention, while political issues go through stricter criteria that require reliable sources and evaluations from research centers that verify the credibility of information coming from the Arab world.

Fandy described the lack of trust between the source and the journalist in the region as "a long and complex process," emphasizing that translating the Arab story into a global narrative requires greater effort than mere momentary impact, which he described as temporary. He added that creating impactful media requires credible Arab media institutions whose stories are intertwined with global issues, noting that the fascination with artificial intelligence will fade over time, while the true value will remain in verified, documented, and audited information.

The outcomes of the session, moderated by journalist Khalid Makhli, a senior presenter at Al Arabiya, summarized the reasons for the confinement of Arab media discourse within the local framework and the difficulty of penetrating international public opinion, while emphasizing the importance of transitioning from the role of "recipient" to "news maker" capable of influencing and imposing the narrative on the global stage, and seizing what participants described as "the dominance of the narrative," so that Arab media institutions become a primary source of news rather than just a reaction to it. The session also discussed the need for media personnel capable of addressing the Western mindset in its language and logic, the impact of reliance on global platforms and their algorithms in narrowing or expanding the reach of the Arab voice, in addition to identifying the tools required to enhance the presence of impactful Arab media globally.