Media Development Center Launches Initiative to Develop Palestinian Media

Birzeit University Media Development Center held on September 25, 2014 the first national team meeting of 45 government, academic and civil institutions, led by the Ministry of Information and the Journalists Syndicate. The meeting aimed to form working committees that will advance the initiative’s nine components.

Media Development Center director Nibal Thawabteh welcomed members of the media development initiative national team, saying that this meeting will be followed by other meetings by the specialized groups that will address the milestones of the initiative.

Initiative coordinator Mohammed Abu-Arqoub gave a presentation on the initiative and its components, saying that the initiative’s duration is three years, which should be long enough to produce an integrated initiative that will substantially contribute to the development of Palestinian media.

Head of the Palestinian Journalist’s Syndicate Abdel Nasser al-Najjar emphasized the importance of unifying all efforts directed at developing local media and that the syndicate is an integral part of this important initiative, which aims to access free, professional and independent Palestinian media.

Deputy minister of Information Mahmoud Khalifa called upon the attending experts and concerned parties to invest their expertise in supporting the accomplishments of this initiative.

Attendees were then divided into working groups to discuss the initiative’s milestones, and the tasks to be performed accordingly, as well as the activities that will be implemented during the initiative period and outputs to be developed vis-à-vis the inputs of committee members.

After the conclusion of the nine intensive workshops, committees coordinators presented a summary of their discussions, provided that these groups will continue their professional debates all through the duration of the initiative.