The Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) has published a new book titled “The New Media Age” which addresses the issues of media and information in the digital era, and its different and advanced uses.
The book contains 160 pages, which include a set of comparatives and opinions by a number of researchers, professionals, and experts in the media and information fields on the new challenges of the changes experienced in this current age, and its accelerating developments.
Abdul Rahim Suleiman, director general of the ASBU, said in the introduction of the book that it comes under the continuous interests of the ASBU in the new and social media, and to keep pace with the successive rapid advances in communication technologies, and what it emits as evident reflections on the content.
He stressed that the union will always remain proactive in exploring the future through the different angles of the media sector, and in discussing the latest developments on the Arab and international media scene.
Researchers also wrote introductions on the definition of social media, and the role of this electronic platform today, as well as the other social networking sites like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter in various fields, bypassing the traditional media outlets in stages.
The book implicitly criticizes the role of the new social media in promoting terrorism because terrorist organizations have exploited these sites to disseminate their violent and deviant ideas, and to attract supporters, especially since the professional media closed its doors in the face of any attempts to promote these terrorist organizations.
The authors suggested through the research conducted by Al-Sadiq Al-Hamami, the director of the African Center for the Training of Journalists and Communicators (CAPJC) in Tunisia, that traditional media recognized the competition imposed by new media, especially with the expansion of the audience, prompting professional media institutions to employ the new media as a source of information, or develop relationship with the public.
The book reviewed the experiences of a number of TV channels and radio stations, in both the public and private sector in Arab countries, in dealing with social media.
Researchers specializing in the media and information fields, who participated in drafting the book, noted that citizens found in these modern electronic spheres an opportunity to express their concerns at the political, economic and social levels.
The book, which is considered one of the most important productions in the Arab world on the challenges imposed by the new media, summarizes the discussions and opinions about social media in its modern form, in the light of the evolution of the electronic media.

Source : Arab News