- Arafat Shoukri, Manager of the Executive Committee of the World Media Summit Doha, delivers the closing remarks in World Media Summit 2016 (WMS) in Doha, capital of Qatar, March 21, 2016. (Photo: Xinhua/Nikku)
The third World Media Summit (WMS) concluded in Doha on Monday with multiple consensuses on coping with challenges from the rise of "new media" and promoting media innovation.
Hosted by Qatar-based Al Jazeera Media Network under the theme of "The Future of News and News Organizations," the two-day meeting gathered around 350 delegates of media outlets form 100 countries and covered topics such as the impact of technology on new reporting, audience fatigue vs. editor fatigue, and the reshaping of media's business models in their panel sessions.
The summit concluded with "World Media Summit Doha Statement" to voice the consensuses reached by the world media leaders and to further promote media cooperation.
The statement stressed that "facing the rapid changes in technology in the Information Age, we believe we must constantly adapt to the new opportunities before us."
According to the document, the WMS will continue its mission to provide training to journalists in various aspects of media production, safety in hostile environments, and awareness of the rights and responsibilities of journalists.
"We encourage news organizations to increase the exchanges amongst their teams, and share experiences in a bid to learn from each other and expand mutually beneficial cooperation," it reads, adding that "the World Media Summit will always be honored to welcome new members, to ensure that it properly represents all geographic regions of the world, and all types of media."
Also, the statement mentioned that the WMS will continue to grant the Global Awards for Excellence and will work on expanding the categories for the prestigious awards.
"And, as always, we encourage media organizations to step up cooperation with their international peers, carry our joint public service campaigns, and play a bigger role in advancing human understanding," the document says.
The notion of 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 Beijing in October, 2009. Organized by Xinhua, more than 170 media leaders from across the world attended the event.
On July 5, 2012, the second summit was held in Moscow. The meeting drew more than 300 delegates of 213 media outlets from 102 countries.
