A seminar on "The Role of Media in Strengthening Civil Peace and National Unity" was held at the Catholic Media Center in Jal El Dib, invited by the head of the Episcopal Committee for Media, Bishop Antoine Nabiel Al Andari. Participants included Minister of Information in the caretaker government Ziad Mekari, Head of the National Media Council Abdel Hadi Mahfouz, and Syndicate of Journalists President Joseph Kosaifi.
Mekari stated: "We are committed to freedom of media in Lebanon because it is our most valuable asset. Even though the issue of freedom in this country is chaotic, we have a duty to protect it. We notice the rapid development in media over the past 15 to 20 years, with the increasing number of media institutions, allowing every citizen to become a media entity through various channels. The situation has changed beyond description and is heading toward even greater change with artificial intelligence, and we cannot yet comprehend where this revolution will take us."
He pointed out that "the Ministry of Information keeps pace as much as possible, given that the state’s workforce is unfortunately bloated, and we cannot benefit from the potential of young talents. Therefore, we establish relationships with media colleges in Lebanon to inject new blood into our official institutions to continue, and dealing with such a strategy is difficult due to outdated laws and administrative bureaucracy. The state cannot continue with such management and approach; as long as we haven't reached an electronic government, we cannot develop. We are currently in a situation without a president, a caretaker government, and a parliament that does not legislate, so we are working with what we have."
He concluded: "We are working on a new media law that provides more freedom for journalism and media, reduces repression, abolishes prison sentences, and separates social media from media institutions. We discuss all of this in a subcommittee in parliament to come up with a law that meets international standards and developments. We are working to expedite this law in collaboration with UNESCO in its study, along with associations, syndicates, legal professionals, and journalists, and we have reached a draft of the new law."
