May 15th, 2016: Students from the School of Communication and Media Studies (SCMS) have been hearing from the British Government’s Arabic Media Spokesperson, Mr. Edwin Samuel, about the importance of communication in connecting nations, during a recent talk at Canadian University Dubai (CUD).
Mr. Samuel, who is responsible for representing the British Government’s views through broadcast, press and social media outlets in the region, spoke about the challenges and solutions for effective communication in intercultural relations, in the context of his own experience in the Middle East.
Speaking about the creation of his position, which was a new role when he took up the post, Mr. Samuel said that there had emerged a realization that the world of politics had changed. The growing power of the media and the proliferation of social media meant that a dedicated regional media spokesperson had become vital in modern-day diplomacy.
Mr. Samuel went on to recount some of the challenging debates he had engaged in during his first year of office and how he had learnt to adapt his style, approach and messaging to communicate more effectively with his audience.
Reflecting on his experience, Mr. Samuel provided students with an insight into the top ten lessons that he had learnt to date, which included the importance of communicating in the right tone and language, as well as delivering the right message, and staying ‘in the game’ by contributing at least something to most of the debates going on in the region.
The talk was organized by Dr. Mohamed Ben Moussa, Acting Dean of the School of Communication and Media Studies, as part of the university’s agenda to bring industry practitioners into the classroom to delivery real-world insights of professional practice in the field.
Gallery
