Dubai: The media has a humanitarian mission to spread hope and happiness in societies by allocating more space for positive news on their platforms, Ohoud Khalfan Al Roumi, the Minister of State for Happiness, said on the second day of the sixth annual IGCF (International Government Communication Forum).

The more people are exposed to positive content, the happier and more encouraged they are to look for solutions, Al Roumi said during her keynote speech, which focused on the role of the mass media in spreading happiness in societies.

“The way news is presented can spread more negativity or light hope in the world. It can either paralyse us or give us hope to search for solutions [to diverse challenges],” she said. “The media is a powerful tool that can affect the feelings and mood of people.”

The minister, who was appointed to her post in February last year, is the world’s first cabinet-level official to head up a nation’s quest for happiness. She pointed out the need for media outlets around the region to produce more positive content as it will build positive values in society and create positive thinking. “We need to look for positive stories in community and highlight good role models that will foster hope in youth. Let us focus more on positive and inspiring stories to achieve better life,” she said.

Al Roumi said that a lot of the news and main headlines tend to be negative because of all the events and circumstances happening around the world, “but we should ask ourselves how we can present the news along with solutions. We cannot change the reality, but we can include more positive content that can spread hope and encourage people to do well”.

Drawing examples from several global studies, Al Roumi said that these studies have shown how exposure to positive content can affect the mood of people throughout the day.

“In a scientific study of a group of people, three minutes of positive news in the morning improved their mood by 88 per cent for eight hours a day. Another study by Pennsylvania university, which included a sample of 500 people, showed that when people watch movies or series that show actors embodying roles that convey high morals, belonging, and generosity, these movies were able to improve the morale of spectators and give them an incentive to be better people.”

Al Roumi said such studies provide a clear indication that the values that are disseminated by the media can positively impact people. It is the same with social media, she added. “A 2015 study of 20 million tweets showed that people were five times more inclined to read and share positive tweets than the negative ones.”

Sharing some examples on how some local media outlets have been sharing positive content, she said: “A lot of the news highlighted by the media in the UAE is positive. “We have a lot of positive headlines and stories, which discuss mostly projects that achieve development and sustainability.”

She also highlighted how news agency WAM has dedicated a special column on happiness and positive news on its website, how a live programme on Noor Dubai has included segments that focus on values of charity, love, optimism and tolerance, and how Al Khaleej newspaper has allocated two pages every Tuesday for highlighting success stories.

The sixth annual IGCF, which has drawn more than 2,500 participants, including government leaders and communications experts, concludes on Thursday night with a declaration of recommendations on best practices in communications.