Over 350 delegates of media outlets from 100 countries gathered in the Qatari capital of Doha on Sunday for the World Media Summit (WMS) 2016.
The two-day summit is hosted by Qatar-based Al Jazeera under the theme of "The Future of News and News Organizations."
The meeting comes at a time when media is undergoing profound changes and audience demands are increasingly diversified. Traditional media faces major challenges as well as unprecedented opportunities.
Shortly before the opening of the summit, leaders of 10 world's leading news organizations, including Xinhua News Agency, CNN, Reuters, The Associated Press, International Information Agency "Rossiya Segodnya," Al Jazeera Media Network, TASS Russian News Agency, Kyodo News, MIH Grouo, and The Hindu Group, also held a presidium meeting.
In the coming two days of summit, the delegates are expected to discuss topics such as the impact of technology on news reporting, mechanisms for protection of journalists, audience fatigue vs. editor fatigue and the reshaping of media's business models.
The notion of holding the WMS was first proposed by Xinhua with the aim of allowing leading media groups worldwide to better exchange their views on the challenges of the emergence of the so-called "new media," and enhance their win-win cooperation.
The first WMS was held in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing from Oct. 8 to 10 in 2009. Organized by Xinhua, more than 170 media leaders from across the world attended the event.
On July 5, 2012, the second World Media Summit was held in Moscow. This summit drew more than 300 representatives of 213 media outlets from 102 countries. Representatives exchanged views on electronic media development around the theme of "Global Media: Meeting Challenges of the 21st Century," the role of social networks in contemporary media space, the relationship between media and business sector and press ethics.
