Top tier media professionals and intellectuals will convene in Dubai for the annual Arab Media Forum 2008 to hold in-depth discussions on how the transformation of technology has impacted the local, regional and international media.

Themed 'Bridging Arab Media Through Technology', the forum will be held from April 23 to 24 at Hotel Monarch, Dubai.

Mona Al Marri, chairperson, Dubai Press Club, said the forum will witness the participation of more than 50 leading Arab media professionals from North Africa and the GCC, and the US, the UK, Germany and Australia.

'An essential component in today's globalised world, media may no longer be confined to physical and geographical borders. With global outreach, media issues need to be discussed on a holistic scale, the reason why we continue to invite international peers and seek their collective opinions on topical industry issues,' she pointed out.

The forum's distinctive sessions will seek to address the growth of the media against a backdrop of rapidly evolving new technologies.

Each designed with a view to providing theoretical and empirical insights into issues of immediate concern, the specialised workshops will focus attention on media and technology in the Maghreb region, talent drain in the Levant media, and the Gulf media's embrace of new technologies as an immediate consequence of its impressive liquidity.

The inaugural workshop will spotlight 'Transformations breaking the traditional mould of the Arab Media'.

It will bring to the table perspectives from Georg Mascolo, editor-in-chief of Germany's newsmagazine - 'Der Spiegel,' Jihad Al Khazen, writer, Al Hayat newspaper, Danny Bottoms, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Showtime; Mohammed Jassim Al Saqer, chairman of the board, Al Jarida Newspaper, and Hessah Lootah, college of media sciences, UAE.
The workshop will be moderated by Mohammed Fahad Al Harthi, editor-in-chief for Sayidaty.

Following up on the outcomes of the first session, the next segment will broaden the deliberations in the context of the global scenario.

Speaking on the 'Big Picture: Impact of New Technologies on the Media Scene' will be Abdullatif Al Sayegh, CEO of Arab Media Group, UAE; Azzam Al Dokkail, general manager, Saudi Research and Marketing Group, Saudi Arabia; Alan Knight, Foundation Chair of Journalism and Media Studies at Central Queensland University, Australia, and Eason Jordan, CEO of Praedict.

This session will be driven by Zaven Kouyoumdijan, the anchor for Future TV.

The subsequent segments of the AMF will range from challenges and opportunities of the New Media, pushing the boundaries of technologies, consolidations driving the growth of Arab broadcasting networks, and the high level of freedom that cyberspace has occasioned across the globe, especially in the Arab world.

These sessions will be led by experts and media professionals including Laila Al Shaikhil, TV anchor of Al Jazeera; Asif Ismail, editor of 'Public Affairs', and project director, Center for Public Integrity, Washington DC; Ammar Bakkar, editor-in-chief, Al-arabya.net; Walid Mounaymeneh, IT expert and CEO, Nuratel; Ali Al Ahmed, executive vice president of Planning and Strategy, Etisalat, UAE; Ayman Al Sayad, editor-in-chief; Andrew Marshall, bureau chief, Reuters, as well as Sashi Kumar, chairman, Media Development Foundation and Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, India.

The forum will also see the screening of documentary films that shed light on the current scenario in Iraq and Palestine.

Expert commentaries by Dr Ali Dabagh, spokesperson of the Government of Iraq, and Dr Musthafa Barghouti, a Palestinian Democracy Activist, will be presented at the conclusion of these screenings.

The second day of the Arab Media Forum will host Nigel Chapman, Director of BBC World Services, and Khadija Al Marzouqi, General Manager, Shoof<