Lebanese Ministry of Information
Caretaker Minister of Information, Dr. Manal Abdel Samad Najd, on Wednesday detailed in an interview with “Radio Lebanon” the Ministry of Information’s accomplishments during her tenure.
“We have a basic vision, which is to maintain free media and to keep stimulating this platform,” affirmed Minister Abdel Samad. “I have not been disappointed by the media, because the media is a mirror that reflects our reality; therefore, we must fix our reality rather than break the mirror,” she added.
“Today’s media reflects our bitter reality. (…) When the image on the ground improves, then I’ll start blaming the media,” she added.
Abdel Samad went on to say that despite this year’s many accomplishments, she has never felt completely satisfied.
“If I feel completely satisfied, then this means that I no longer have ambition to move forward. Therefore, I am always in a stage of dissatisfaction and setting new goals,” Abdel Samad said of her resolve to keep achieving.
“In a short stint, we have drawn up action plans and accomplished them. We’ve set up a roadmap to organize and define the course of public media,” the Minister added.
Abdel Samad then explained that the media law that had been proposed included a regulation of some matters that served the public and private media alike. “This preserves their rights, protects them, and regulates their work.”
“As for the present time, I am all for having the media managing itself because in the event of a mistake, accountability should be exacted by the public; hence, the court of public opinion is way more important than that of the prints. We must reach this stage of evaluating the work of media institutions and media professionals by the public opinion based on their credibility and objectivity,” maintained Abdel Samad.
“There is no limit for freedom for as long as the freedom of others is respected. Tele Liban’s Journalists’ Conference on Media Freedom presented opinions that will take our society towards a better future,” she added.
NNA
