Interview: World Media Summit a global platform to share experience, ideas, says Iraqi official

The ongoing fifth World Media Summit will be a global platform for exchanging experience and expertise among international media outlets, an Iraqi media official has said.

« The summit will undoubtedly provide a favorable environment for participating countries to get to know each other and exchange information and ideas in the field of media, » said Dr. Mohammed Rashak, president’s advisor of the Iraqi Media Network, an official institution that manages state-run media outlets in Iraq.

On the theme of « Boosting Global Confidence, Promoting Media Development, » the summit, being held in Guangzhou, capital city of China’s Guangdong province, gathers hundreds of heads of mainstream media outlets worldwide, government officials and representatives of international organizations.

This summit will enhance cooperation and exchanges among different countries participating in it, as it provides an important stage for the communication of ideas, exchange of opinions, and sharing of the latest developments in the media arena, Rashak said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua before travelling to China to attend the summit.

The media is now witnessing significant and rapid development in the fields of multimedia, social media and so on, he said. « This summit will also provide an appropriate atmosphere for the global media to come up with a specific and clear vision for its future. »

As new platforms, new forms and new ways of information dissemination are burgeoning nowadays, Rashak said the official and mainstream media in the world must come up with consistent visions to adapt to new platforms, media outlets, or social media to provide media content capable of competing with other media with their credibility, transparency and news transmission.

The Iraqi official pointed out that the world is now fraught with fake news that misleads the public. « I believe that through the positive atmosphere at the summit and the exchange of ideas at the meetings, a vision can be reached to provide honest, purposeful, and transparent media content, » he said.

« We in Iraq aspire to find common ways and visions with the Chinese media, especially since Iraq is considered a news hub and a center for global news circulation in the Middle East, » he added.

The summit will create new opportunities for further cooperation between China and Iraq since the summit provides a good chance for the two countries’ media to learn from each other’s experience, he said, voicing hope that the relations between the two countries will continue to develop and prosper in all fields and at all levels in the future.

« I have never visited China before, but my readings about this great country and its history are inspiring. Undoubtedly, this large and great country, with its great contributions and achievements to humanity, deserves a visit, » he said.