Sharjah 24, www.sharjah24.ae, the popular UAE news website managed by the Sharjah Government Media Bureau, is set to unveil the first edition of the “Local News Networks Forum — Role and Influence” on November 25, 2021, with the participation of leading local news networks, news portals and social media platforms.

The first edition of Local News Networks Forum will discuss the role and responsibilities of individual and independent news media, as well as the impact and influence they have been exerting on the news industry at large, especially in generating news media content, given their noticeable growth in recent times. The Forum will tackle other topics, such as the concept of citizen journalism, the role and future of news networks in taking on local issues, and challenges and opportunities available to networks to contribute more effectively to the national development agenda.

Tariq Saeed Allay, Director General of the Sharjah Government Media Bureau, emphasised that the growth and development of news networks in recent years reflect the richness and diversity of the UAE media environment and the tremendous opportunities of growth and positive competition that it offers.

While welcoming the recent evolution and development in the media sector with new platforms and modes of dissemination of news coming into existence, Allay stressed that despite the growth of news networks in the country, their contribution is limited to the dissemination of news, rather than the creation of news. This calls for greater efforts to enhance the journalistic role of these networks, he added.

The SGMB Director General lauded the founders and creators of local news networks, many of them a result of individual independent initiatives. Today, they have become an important source of news in the community, and enjoy large followings and offer readers interaction, thanks to the content they publish on social media platforms.

Allay stressed that the Local News Networks Forum is an initiative to reach out to, and support all such networks, in coordination with the relevant authorities in terms of organising their work mechanisms and setting norms that define their responsibilities in a manner that is in harmony with the media strategy and objectives of the UAE.