Strategy to enhance national principles and face extremism

Media workshop in Damascus The participants in the "National Media and the Current Challenges" workshop stressed that the war waged against Syria for two and a half years is a manifestation of an international-regional project that targets its national unity and geopolitical position in the region, particularly its position in the Arab-Israeli conflict and embracement of the option of resistance.
Wrapping up the three-day workshop on Thursday, the participants considered that the internal factors of the crisis in Syria and the circulation of terms that came along were exploited and merged into the tools of war against the country with the aim to bring its downfall and undermine its principles and position.
The participants stressed that part of the war waged against Syria is a media war per excellence given the scale of the gigantic media outlets and the multiple nationalities involved and the volume of the massive capabilities allocated.
They underscored the basic aim of this media war in terms of dominating the hearts and minds of people, particularly the Syrians, and distorting the image of Syria and the Syrian people in the eyes of the Arab and international public opinion.
They indicated a clear imbalance of capabilities, qualifications and plans in favor of the forces of the media war over the national Syrian media outlets which have been mobilised for the confrontation.
Nevertheless, the participants said, the Syrian media have summoned all capabilities from the beginning and succeeded in many ways in disclosing the reality of the war and falsification practiced by the forces of aggression.
They made clear that during this multi-faceted and multi-level confrontation, the vision of the Syrian leadership, topped by President Bashar al-Assad, has formed the foundation for phrasing the media discourse that is aimed to expose the lie of the so-called "peaceful revolution" and prove the existence of "conspiracy" and the role of terrorism.
In a concluding statement, the workshop, which started last Tuesday, recommended developing the media strategy to be based on independence and keeping pace with the scientific and technological advancements.
The workshop highlighted the importance that the to-be-developed strategy contribute to expanding the public base and boosting the national media's role as being the media of state and society to meet the concerns and aspirations of the various social spectra and political forces.
The participants stressed in the concluding statement the need for a media plan to cope with "the project of national reconstruction according to the concept of the national resisting state".
They called for allowing more access to the Arab and foreign media in Syria and enhancing communication with study and research centers and media associations in the friendly countries which will contribute to divulging the lies and misleading practiced against Syria.
The statement highlighted the necessity to encourage establishing private media institutions and artistic production companies to launch new satellite channels and media outlets "to cut down the hegemony of the petro-dollar on Arab, regional and international media".
It also called for spreading "the right religious awareness" and "consolidating the patriotic affiliation", in addition to deepening "the judicial culture" particularly in relation to crimes of stirring sectarian, tribal and confessional seditions.
Recommendations also focused on the establishment of centers specialized in media studies and public polls and a center for training and preparing political analysts to keep away from the prevailing non-scientific oratorical language.
The participants also recommended benefiting from TV series, shows, programs and films to lay bare the mentality of the takfiri groups and uncover their connection with the forces with hostile attitudes towards Syria.
The statement stressed the importance of focusing on activating electronic press and interaction with the public particularly through social networking websites.
Heading today's session, Faissal Abdul-Sattar hailed the sacrifices offered by the Syrian media in terms of martyrs and losses, stressing that this media "has succeeded to a large extent in facing media fleets with its modest mechanisms compared with what the others have".
Other participants stressed in their speeches the importance of people working in the media field getting acquainted with the national security policies of their countries and of boosting expertise exchange and coordination among the national security apparatuses in some Arab countries to come up with a unified strategy to face the targeting of their armies within the Zionist-U.S. project.
The workshop, which hosted intellectuals, researchers and media figures from Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Palestine and Iran, discussed the issues of media and the genuine and falsified image of the Syrian society, the situation of media between the state and authority, the role of media in building the national personality and confronting extremism and media before, during and after the crisis.
Source: SANA