Attendees described the speech as 'controversial', but the sheikh's statement apparently failed to provoke a considerable reaction from them. Whether it will resonate with the wider media community needs to be seen. He insisted that he had always believed that the media needs more honesty and clarity. Sheikh Abdullah said that there was no longer a secure future for media institutions that depend heavily on government funding and control. The public will no longer accept media that are controlled by government, that seek to provide them with a limited and partial view of events.
Government authorities are sufficiently mature to welcome constructive analysis and criticism.
It is time that the media institutions showed that they too have the maturity to tackle this task. For, let us make no mistake about it, our society does have problems that need to be addressed. Not, though, by government alone, for that can never be successsful. We have all the paraphernalia of a modern and mature society. As a mature society, we are surely now ready to examine in a serious way how we can further progress.