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West Bank and Gaza: Conference May Lead to a Media Council, Educational Station

Posted on: Friday, 15 July 2005, 06:11 CDT

Text of report by Palestinian news agency Wafa website

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Information Dr Nabil Sha'th said today [13 July] that the participation of Palestine in the two- day Mediterranean conference in Paris, on the control of visual and audio media institutions, constituted an advanced step towards setting up a national media council.

In a statement to the international press centre at the headquarters of the Public Information Commission, Dr Sha'th said that he discussed with the participating delegations, on the sidelines of the conference, the experiences of France, Morocco, Jordan, Cyprus, Italy and Greece in the formation of a higher media council.

He added that his participation in the conference, along with the delegation accompanying him, served as a useful opportunity to finalize a Palestinian vision on the formation of a national media council and its role.

Dr Sha'th said that during his fringe meetings with a number of representatives at the conference, they promised to provide the Palestinian media sector with experts and promised to extend financial and moral support, helping to set up a higher media council to improve the Palestinian media's performance.

Last year's Mediterranean conference was held in Cyprus, under the chairmanship of the Cyprus Radio and Television president. This year, the member states of the conference were Cyprus, France, Greece, Israel, Malta, Italy, Portugal, Turkey and Spain. The conference was founded in Barcelona on 29 November 1997.

Dr Sha'th met with representatives of the French state-owned network, Radio France International, and other parties concerned with developing foreign media, to discuss ways of joint cooperation, provision of aid to Palestinian media institutions and France's resumption of its role as the main supporter of Palestinian media, as it was in 1993 and 1994.

The Palestinian information minister said that French media authorities showed their readiness to provide the Palestinian media sector with expertise, visual and audio media technology and to support the Palestinian educational channel, which he is personally setting up.

Dr Sha'th discussed with the UNESCO [United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization] director general today the possibility of supporting and developing the Palestinian media plan and activating the various media sectors as part of UNESCO's continuous support for the Palestinian people through educational, cultural and development projects.

Also, Dr Sha'th listened to a briefing by the head of the French national institute for visual and audio media, on archiving, computerizing press archives and on the equipment used for this purpose.

Dr Sha'th pointed out that this important meeting was a step towards setting up a Palestinian educational station to benefit from the subjects that it will broadcast.

Minister Sha'th is scheduled to meet with [French] President Jacques Chirac's adviser and the French foreign minister to brief them on the latest political developments in the region and the Palestinian preparations to deal with the expected Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Source: BBC Monitoring Media

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