Lebanese Ministry of Information
Minister of Information, Dr. Manal Abdel Samad Najd, on Wednesday visited the Agence France Presse (AFP) Beirut Office in Hamra, accompanied by the Director General of the Information Ministry, Dr. Hassan Falha, and the Director of the National News Agency (NNA), Ziad Harfouche.
They were greeted by the AFP Beirut Office Chief, Jean-Marc Mojon, who presented the nature of the work of the different services of the agency.
Speaking in the wake of the tour, Minister Abdel Samad said: “The visit comes in the framework of permanent and continuous cooperation with foreign agencies, and today we toured the AFP Bureau in order to cooperate in the field of information exchange and limiting false news, and to discuss the most important issues to develop this sector.”
Discussions also touched on ways to limit the flow of false information, announcing that the AFP is in the process of organizing a reward program which will be announced later for anyone who discovers false information.
She also announced that she will visit all news agencies operating in Lebanon and foreign media outlets, “so that our nation’s media would remain a pioneer at the level of Lebanon, the Arab countries and the world.”
Minister Abdel Samad hailed the role of the National News Agency (NNA), deeming NNA as a vital part of the public media sector, and “has proven its efficiency and competence in transmitting the correct information, and has become the primary and official source of the correct information at the political, economic and social levels.”
In turn, Mojon welcomed the interest of Minister Abdel Samad towards the verification of information, a matter which ranks among the foremost of the AFP Agency’s priorities.
Mojon also announced that AFP “is working to develop its work in Lebanon and the Middle East”, stressing that the Beirut office is a center for the verification of information at the Middle East level.
NNA
