MCFA Launches the 1st Int. Conference on Digital Journalism
Under the patronage of Al Maaref University President Professor Ali Alaeddine, the Media Industry Development and Innovation Lab (MIDIL) at the Faculty of Mass Communication and Fine Arts launched the First International Conference on Digital Journalism and Innovative Media Industry on Friday July 1, 2022.
The conference, which gathered a group of researchers from twelve countries representing eighteen academic, scientific and professional institutions together with academics, students, and those interested in media and digitalization, was held both on campus, in Beirut, and virtually through Zoom platform.
El-Takach
After reciting verses from the holy Qur’an followed by the Lebanese national anthem, the MCFA's Dean, Dr. Ali El-Takach, welcomed the attendees and praised the intensive and long-term efforts of the Conference's Organising Committee, and hence the Conference appeared into light despite the challenges faced by the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic as well as the crippling economic and political crisis in Lebanon.
The Dean indicated that the MIDIL had already organized two seminars in 2020 and 2021 focused on “Journalism & Media Industry in the Era of Digitization & AI”, arguing that today’s Conference focuses on the Digital Fourth Estate, which it is “the core issue in our scientific and professional community". He stated that, "Both the lab and the Conference are the basis for designing a great deal of diplomas and postgraduate programs, as we rely on our current and ongoing events to design the most effective master’s programs as well as to equip the graduates with theoretical and professional skills as a mean to boost their chances of finding a job”.
Alaeddine
MU's President Professor Alaeddine indicated that "the Conference is the first of its nature in the field of journalism and media studies in Lebanon. It comes after the recede of the Covid-19 pandemic. Thus, this in-person Conference is an indication of the continuity of scientific activities in which we are looking to promote and support because they are the essence of producing scientific knowledge. In fact, we cannot ignore the ongoing economic and financial crises in our country and their negative impact on the higher education sector. The university’s decision is to move forward with the academic progress in methodological steps". Professor Aladdine added that "the digital fourth estate has opened the door wide for enabling informational tools to employ the developments of digitalization and artificial intelligence in many communicative aspects in journalism and media industry, such as in innovative newsrooms, news-gathering, editing process, transmitting information to the public and identifying its impact on the societal levels. As a result, the first International Conference on Digital Journalism and Innovative Media Industry is in the context of supporting digitalization that serves the individual and the society and enhances the process of the formation of a new press in the service humanity, rather than being a data package just in the service of technical development".
The conference started on Friday July 1st, 2022, and ended on Saturday July 2nd, 2022 at Al Maaref University's campus in Beirut, and virtually via Zoom. Its program included eight sessions, and an online workshop at the end of the Conference titled, “Planning the Elements for Multimedia Stories” delivered by the Advisor to the Editor-in-Chief of “Sputnik News Agency and Radio", Dr. Oleg Dmitriev.