Minister Al-Hallaq: The completion of the new media law has reached advanced stages

On the occasion of the 59th anniversary of the launching of Al-Thawra newspaper, the Ministry of Information honored a number of media professionals working in the paper press, at the headquarters of the Al-Wahda Foundation in Damascus on July 3rd. 

Minister of Information, Dr. Boutros Al-Hallaq, indicated in his speech that everyone who worked in this prestigious institution should be honoured , calling for the necessity of adopting this procedure annually to encourage the new generation of media professionals.

Minister Al-Hallaq stressed that the success of the media depends in large part on the success of the information flowing from the ministries and institutions. 

Minister Al-Hallaq said that great strides have been made in obtaining information, despite the presence of some defects in reading the numbers and presenting them to public opinion correctly. 

He pointed out that the media is an industry and that partnership is the solution to its advancement, and that this requires amending legislation and laws to improve the media work environment, and then the wages, salaries and compensations of journalists can be increased, which will have a positive impact on the whole sector. 

Minister Al-Hallaq reviewed the projects that the ministry is currently working on, especially the new media law, which is being studied within the framework of thinking about “modern flexible legislation,” in cooperation with the Ministry of Administrative Development.

The Minister explained that a restructuring of the Printing Institute has been carried out and transformed into a Technical Media Institute that will teach the technical side of the media and is supposed to be launched during this year.

In their interventions, a number of media professionals stressed the urgent need for a new modern media law that regulates media work and defines the difficulties and basic criteria for media work. 

The media’s interventions touched on the importance of the journalist’s Charter of Honor and its role in clarifying what is required of the journalist. 

A number of media professionals called for finding a mechanism to facilitate the process of obtaining information and to address the difficulties encountered in this matter. 

Minister Al-Hallaq noted the role of the local media in serving the community and finding solutions to the negatives according to solutions journalism and highlighting the positives, in addition to its role in shedding light on societal and institutional shortcomings. 

Minister Al-Hallaq called on local media sites to focus on the citizen in the context of their work, stressing the return of the paper press work in a new form and appearance. 

In a statement to reporters after the honoring, Minister Al-Hallaq indicated that coming up with a special law for media professionals requires a great effort, participation and workshops to reach a law commensurate with media work, and that improving the financial reality of media professionals needs to be regulated. 

In turn, Director of Al-Wahda Foundation for Press, Printing, Publishing and Distribution, Amjad Issa, stressed that honoring is part of the rights of journalists who are part of a large media system that fought in the shadow of the terrorist war waged against Syria.

A number of honored media professionals, including Deeb Ali Hassan, Abdo Zenko and Maysa Al-Jardi, praised this initiative, which appreciated their work during these long years, expressing their hope that it would be periodical because of its stimulating effect on improving media work.

O. al-Mohammad