Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz stressed that responsible freedom, caring for the religious, social and ethical interests, keenness to respect peoples' cultures and traditions and professional organizations are characteristics of the honest media with preservation of material and moral rights of individuals and institutions and the gains and assets of the homelands. The king's remarks came before the First International Media Conference "The Future of Press Publishing" which was open here today under the patronage of the king. In the king's speech, which was delivered on the king's behalf by Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Abdulaziz Khojah, the addressed the media men saying, "You are responsible before Allah (God) and before the people. The responsibility is great. May Allah help to shoulder and defend it by being precise in what is published and truthful in carrying facts transparently and honestly." The king said that since its early beginning at the hands of the founding king Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud, the Saudi media has been characterized by high truthfulness, transparency and balance; understanding of the growing needs of the homeland and citizens and great contribution to the fateful causes of the two Arab and Islamic nations and the world wisely and with farsightedness. The king said the state has sought to effectively contribute to boosting the status of the country in the world though qualifying the human and material resources and entered the third millennium with confident steps and great determination to give, be distinguished and innovate and hence the state's care for sending students abroad and constant training. The king said that today, the world is living in a media openness with the growing revolution of telecommunications and the information technology which made the world as a small house and hence the Saudi media continued its confident steps with competence and fastness on positions while at the same time constantly keeping pace with development and showing the reality we live at various fields despite the successive challenges and changing difficulties imposed by the modern age's tempo and constant developments at the international scene and fierce competition by the media to win the audience. The ceremony, which was attended by Prince Turki bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Assistant Minister of Culture and Information; Prince Bandar bin Khalid Alfaisal, Prince Dr. Faisal bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, President of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Company for Research and Publishing; a number of other Princes, undersecretaries of the ministry, a number of the ministry's officials, a number of diplomats and a group of intellectuals and media men from the kingdom and abroad, featured a video show on press publishing in the Kingdom and the challenges it is facing. During the ceremony, the Minister of Culture and Information honored a number of pioneers who served the press work in the kingdom. He also honored the sponsors of the conference. Then, he received a memorial gift from the organizing committee of the conference. At the end, the minister toured the exhibition accompanying the conference.
