By Norah Alhaqbani

@norah_mohammed

RIYADH — On the sidelines of the Saudi Media Forum, the regional communication office at the US Department of State held a workshop entitled “Principles for Journalists in Dealing with Governmental Agencies.”

The workshop was presented by the Arabic language spokesperson at the US Department of State Geraldine Gassam Griffith.

Griffith touched several topics of interest to every journalist in the field. The workshop revolved between the rights and duties of both the journalist and the guest, and about the secrets of spokespersons when they evaluate interviews requests, the reasons for accepting the interview, which is based on the interests of the governments and not the benefits of journalists.

Griffith also pointed out the importance of clarity of the message that will be produced to the readers, and she also spoke about the reasons for rejecting the request for interviews and how to get them.

Griffiths talked about the primary resources of journalists from the US agencies, which were mainly presented in data and statements from the White House, the US Department of Defense, the US Department of State, and social media platforms for specific sites in both Arabic and English, such as the US Department of State.

At the end of the workshop, Griffiths talked about the basic principles in verifying the authenticity of the information from the source and whether it is quoted or not, and about the history of the content creation industry.