CAPE TOWN - The 3rd BRICS Media Forum is currently in its second day happening in the host city Cape Town, under the theme of ‘BRICS Media Cooperation – Fostering an Inclusive, Just World Order’.
Delegates from the various BRICS nations are attending the two-day forum, a precursor to next week’s BRICS Heads of State Summit in Johannesburg on the 25th of July.
Mr. Romualdo Salata, General Director of the CMA Group in Brazil was speaking during a panel discussion of seven international keynote speakers discussing the topic of a shared global future forged by constructive and development journalism, seeking ways to enhance cooperation among new media in BRICS countries.
The CMA Group headquartered in Brazil is a multinational company involved in developing high-tech solutions for the financial, commodities, finance education, telecommunications and data centre markets since 1973.
Salata began thanking Dr. Iqbal Survé, a Co-Chairman of the of the BRICS Media Forum for the invitation to the summit as he believes this is a great opportunity for the BRICS Media to find solutions to work together.
"This is an opportunity to enhance our relationships with the media of the countries and in this Summit, I would like to bring a few comments in thinking of ways to improve the reporting of journalism", said Salata.
According to Salata, in a recent study conducted by CMA, they found that the majority of the wealthy population is holding 1% which made up 20.4% of the world's global income in 2016. This is in comparison to 16.2% in 1980.
He continues to state facts that show even in this modern age, people from richer economic backgrounds still see things differently than people from poorer economic backgrounds.
"Journalists should be a part of local commitment listening to the citizens and reporting back to them but also finding out the progress of the situation", said Salata.
"According to a survey in 2015 by the World Economic Forum showed that the first students in Turkey, only half of them only had access to the internet in school and this is similar to other emerging countries such as Mexico.
"Another study shows that students from richer economic backgrounds would go online to source news and information while the poorer would spend more time exchanging messages or even gaming", said Salata.
He believes that at this point, government should also recognise the need for journalists for development and use it in an appropriate method as criticism is fundamental for progress.
"We as media outlets have the fundamentals to bridge the gap for those that require support and those who can offer the support", said Salata.
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