Merlo calls on media to keep pace with the times

Dubai: The president of the Association Internationale De La Presse Sportive (AIPS) has called on sports media in the UAE to adapt, embrace and upgrade new media forms in an attempt to better serve their "truly global audiences" due to the internet boom.

"We belong to the Jurassic era, and in comparison the new generation journalists have a much bigger task and responsibility of being multi-faceted so that they can keep up with the changing times," Gianni Merlo said on the concluding day of the Dubai International Sports Media Forum yesterday.

"While on the one hand it is important for the young generation to embrace the new tools on offer, it is equally important that the older lot of journalists adapt and keep up to changing times so that they can upgrade and keep up with changing times.

Merlo disclosed how an experiment of the Young Reporters' Forum last year brought together 42 young sports media journalists from across the globe, along with 15 journalists from Shenzhen, China, helped to create and nurture much better professionals in a fast-changing world.

Later, Dr Ahmad Sa'ad Al Sharif, Secretary-General of the Dubai Sports Council, oversaw the signing of a series of Memorandums of Understanding between the DSC, AIPS and Asian, Arab and Gulf Sports Media Federations. He also launched a programme to educate 15 young UAE media students. The two-day forum was jointly organised by the UAE Sports Media Committee and the DSC.