The Minister Series of The Phoenix Daily

Joelle El Sheikh, Staff Writer and Sarah El-Abd, Editor-in-Chief

The current caretaker government, led by (caretaker) Prime Minister Hassan Diab, distinguished itself on two main fronts: having specialized individuals with little to no direct political affiliation, and including, for the first time in Lebanese history, six women heading the Ministries of Defense, Justice, the Displaced, Labor, Youth and Sports, and Information. This was a promising step towards achieving gender equality and representation in politics and the public sphere. This historic cabinet that came into effect on the 21st of January of this year carried the promise of fulfilling the demands of the October 17 uprising that resulted in the resignation of former Prime Minister Saad Al Hariri. The cabinet also faced the heavy challenge of dealing with the economic, financial, and political crises that were making their way onto the Lebanese scene, as well as restoring trust between Lebanese citizens and their representatives. 

The Minister series of the Phoenix Daily is an exclusive series of interviews and discussions with Ministers of State in the attempt to bring transparency, accountability, and also knowledge from the Ministry directly to the eyes of the general public 

On the 9th of November, the Phoenix Daily met exclusively with Her Excellency, current care-taker Minister of Information, Dr. Manal Abdel Samad Najd, for an exclusive interview and discussion around Lebanese Media, Freedom of Speech and expression, the Minister of Information’s efforts to combat fake news, the strategies taken to strengthen the Ministry, and what the future looks like after more than 10 months in office. 

 Being one of the six historic women that made it into the 2020 cabinet this year, Minister Dr. Manal Abdel Samad Najd describes her experience to the Phoenix Daily as one filled with challenges and excitement to represent and strengthen the role of women in media. 

 “The feminist experience was the soft power in the Government, as the presence of six women ministers for the first time in the country's history was a positive shock, particularly as it being described as the technocrats’ Government. This gave us an opportunity to demonstrate competence, merit and responsibility regarding professionalism and productivity, within the framework of an executive political authority.

During my tenure of the Ministry of Information, I wanted to strengthen the role of women through the Media Act. In the regulatory body we were proposing to establish, we set a condition that candidates to the governing body's board must be equal to men and women, in the sense that half of them are men and the other half are women.”

The Minister has also long been an advocate for gender equality, and more importantly, the importance of giving women equal opportunities to demonstrate their skill and potential. 

“Efficiency and aptitude has nothing to do with the person’s gender, whether being a man or a woman. Equal opportunities promote equality and social justice. Women are half of society, and have repeatedly demonstrated their merit in taking responsibility, but they still need to give them the necessary confidence to be effective partners and active participants in political action”. 

With such great responsibility comes an even greater challenge, especially in a patriarchal society that has long blocked women out of the Lebanese political arena. When the parliament only holds six women in office (five after the resignation of Paula Yacoubian) out of one hundred and twenty-eight, it is natural to wonder how, and why, women are underrepresented in politics.

“The masculine dominance that has long prevailed in politics has reinforced the idea that women have no significant role in this area, given that men are more qualified to lead. However, the actual truth is that women have the capacity to perform the multiple tasks from managing their work to organizing social activities and timelines, so they follow-up on matters and address things wisely and accurately.”

In the ten months of being in office, including the current period of care-taker government, the Ministry of Information has led a series of long-awaited developments within the information and media sector; including addressing freedom of speech, combatting fake news and misinformation, strengthening the national news and media networks, and amending the media law proposal, to name a few. 

If Lebanon is known for one thing, it’s its strong stance with freedom of expression and speech. This right, guaranteed by Article 13 of the Lebanese constitution, has been the foundation of the Lebanese state ever since 1943. The Ministry of Information stands by this right, with its various dimensions. 

“The Ministry of Information in its various directorates: the National Information Agency, the Lebanese Radio and the Lebanese Directorate of Studies and Publications, in addition to Lebanese television, is constantly keen to convey and transmit the truth, reality and news in an objective and transparent manner away from any impacts, through its platforms and pages on social media sites. They are the voice of all Lebanese without exception and without discrimination.”

Despite various issues that have dominated Lebanese media over the past number of years, as well as certain limitations on freedom of expression on journalists and activists since the uprisings of October 2019, Her Excellency assures the Lebanese people that each and every media organization has the sacred right to express its opinion, so long as it is based on facts and evidence, and does not spread false rhetoric. With various instances over the course of 2019 and 2020 arising in terms of prosecution of activists and journalists on political grounds; The Phoenix Daily finds that efforts to secure freedom of speech of journalists and activists, combined with accountability frameworks for misinformation are still critically needed.

“As for Lebanon being a space for freedom, private media organizations have the right to speak in their own way, provided that they respect media laws and ethics, especially on social media sites that are uncontrolled. Cooperation between us is even required and is a source of wealth particularly in a period of crisis, such as the current coronavirus crisis.”

In addition, the Ministry of Information’s committee that includes professionals, jurists, and specialists, has worked on suggesting fundamental amendments to the media law proposal received from the Administration and Justice Parliamentary Committee, in an attempt to protect freedom of expression and the media in Lebanon. These amendments include removing the term “media crimes” and replacing it with media acts, excluding special media-related verdicts from the criminal record, abolishing prison sentences for media professionals and replacing them with a financial penalty, enhancing the respect for the international human rights law and observance of international standards for freedom of opinion and expression.

The Minister of Information handed over the amended version of the media law proposal to the head of the Parliamentary Administration and Justice Committee and asked him to approve it as soon as possible for the benefit of the sector. Another strategy undertaken by the Ministry to strengthen its role and position is working on a law exempting media institutions from fees and accumulated arrears. The Ministry of Information has already referred this law to the Council of Ministers. 

In a year where misinformation has never affected grassroot societies more, it is promising to hear that the Ministry of Information has launched the “Fact Check Lebanon” webpage on the 15th of July of 2020. The launch took place “during the Curbing Fake News Forum, held at the Grand Serail, in the presence of representatives of embassies and UN bodies in Lebanon, UNHC Head of Communications, Melissa Fleming, and a panel of Lebanese politicians and delegates from Twitter, Facebook, CNN, AFP and others” notes the Minister. The aim of the news forum serves to verify false news, and it remains accessible to everyone to verify the accuracy of doubtful, uncertain, or suspicious news through the website https://factchecklebanon.nna-leb.gov.lb.

The obligation to debunk fake and misleading news needed to be highlighted as it “only stir[s] tension and harm[s] the society and its members” states the Minister. When it comes to misinformation campaigns and rumors against the government, the Ministers notes such fake news are “reprehensible, not to mention aim to make its rescue mission more difficult to achieve”. The incentive for fake news argues the Minister is some individuals’ “aim to kill people's sense of initiation and their will to develop the country. However, we believe that the more the rumors, the more we believe that we are on the right path”.
It is for this reason, that the Minister highlighted to The Phoenix Daily the importance of “self-censorship” and “fighting misinformation and fake news”.  
"There is no doubt that modern technology makes social media messaging platforms a fertile environment and ground to promote all kinds of news. Manipulating the content of any piece of information, image, video, or audio recording has become a very easy matter," warned the Minister, reiterating the importance of self-censorship.
She further notes that "in the digital age, each of us has become responsible for every word he/she says, and also responsible for the publication of any piece of news, picture, or video,".

“I finally called on the media not to give up on their message by fully adhering to their mission to spread the truth. "We depend on you to help in the country's rescue mission and to achieve the country's best interest.” notes the Minister as she calls on the media to persevere on their mission to the spreading of the truth. 

On the subject of truth, rescue missions, and achieving the country’s best interest, for over three months the Lebanese people have had one thing on their minds: the Beirut Explosion. With investigations still on-going, the Minister tells The Phoenix Daily that On August 10, the Lebanese government “referred the Beirut explosion to the Judicial Council, a special court with no appeals process. As of October 13, local media reported that 25 people had been arrested in relation to the case and 30 had been charged.”

During the Hariri proposals that followed the initial uprisings of October 2019, the then-Prime Minister proposed a relatively comprehensive reform plan which included the canceling of ministries, changing of budget, fiscal matters, and more. Amongthose many points, was the proposal to cancel the Ministry of Information. The question was raised during the conversation with the Minister, and The Phoenix Daily was informed of a strategic plan that has been developed. The plan is based on proposals from a committee which the Ministry of Information created for this particular objective and includes various media professionals, academics, specialists, and legal professionals. The strategic plan for the future of the Ministry of Information looks to “replacing the Ministry of Information and the National Media Council by a media regulatory body to organize the public and private media sectors, which completes independence and executive powers” noted the Ministry.

It was seemingly also of great importance to ensure better communication between the government, the people, and among the other government ministries as the committee also put forth a plan of establishing a state office for communication affairs tasked with the above-mentioned responsibilities.

A final point of the strategic plan includes the establishment of a unified platform for the state media, to be titled “Liban Media”. This platform would encompass the National News Agency, Radio Lebanon, and Tele Liban, and the platform would be a mean to “unify media efforts in state media institutions and reduce the financial cost” noted the Ministry. 

Before the strategic plan goes into work, however, the current care-taker Minister has ensured several efforts to strengthen the ministry’s entities. Conducting awareness campaigns to bolster social responsibility through the media has been a highlight of the ministry, through awareness campaigns on the dangers of the novel Coronavirus, the inclusion of people with special needs, and more campaigns to target the spread of misinformation. 

Further than this, the Ministry has launched several training and development initiatives as well as created various opportunities within media. The Ministry tells The Phoenix Daily that they are training the “editors and reporters from the National News Agency to verify fake news, in cooperation with Agence France-Presse (AFP)”, and that the Ministry is setting up a mechanism to “train university students and media professionals in the form of an internship”. Furthermore, there is a draft agreement to be signed with UNESCO that has been prepared, according to the Ministry. Lastly, work is continuously ongoing in the hope of establishing a so called “Media Incubator” with the aim of encouraging media production in Lebanon through a series of legal, technical, and professional incentives, notes Dr. Manal Abdel Samad Najd.

With all that and more to it, a draft law has also been reformulated for the Editor’s Syndicate, with the aspirations of transforming it into a “journalists’ hub which gathers workers from the print, audiovisual, and digital media” through expansion of enrolments to the syndicate notes Dr. Manal Abdel Samad Najd.


The importance of a national and unified media and information is, needless to say, a well-known sentiment for The Phoenix Daily, as such it is fruitful to hear from the Ministry their efforts to preserve the archives of Tele Liban through digital archiving and the further expansion of Radio Lebanon with the recent inauguration of a transmission station in Shawkin in the south of Lebanon in the aim of strengthening “Radio Lebanon’s transmission in South Lebanon” notes the Ministry. According to Dr. Abdel Samad there are also further efforts for cooperation between the Ministry of Information in regard to Radio Lebanon and Tele Liban to make use of “both institutions’ human and material elements to achieve the best productivity...”.

Even though the Ministry expects to see an abolishment of the Ministry in the future, three departments were established with the aim of “developing mechanization, regulating digital media, and enhancing internal and external communication” – the newly established departments are the Informatics department, the Electronic and Digital Media department, and the Communication and Dialogue department under Decree No. 6845.