Our university, King Khalid University or "KKU", is a major university in the Kingdom.
In addition to its academic role, KKU assumes a range of responsibilities at local and national levels. This Intern ational Conference on Media and Terrorism, is but one example of such a role.
It is now widely accepted across the globe that in our age, terro rism has become a major plague. It tops the agendas of governments and politicians, the military, social and economic institutions, including un iversities, researchers and the wider public everywhere.
The International Conference on Media and Terrorism, focuses on significant topics related to this subject and the roles media traditional and new play and/or can play in combatting terrorism.
We welcome and thank the high-caliber and distinguished pool of local, regional and international researchers, of media leaders and of experts, who will be taking part in and enriching this conference with their valuable contributions.
We look forward to this conference and trust it will realize its objectives.
Finally, I would like to thank the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz; the Crown Prince, Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdul-Aziz; and Deputy Premier, Minister of Interior, and Deputy Crown Prince, Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdul-Aziz for their solid support and their major role in advancing the development of Saudi universities and other educational institutions through the years.
I also extend my gratitude to the many KKU organizing committees who have worked very hard to transform this conference from an ‘ idea ’ to a rich, full-fledged successful conclusion.
Rector of King Khalid University
KKU Mass Communication Department is established with the aim of meeting the academic accreditation standards, though it is the most fledgling department in mass communication Pan-Saudi universities.
Drafted to fulfill the academic accreditation requirements and to meet the domestic mass communication needs, the department plan is based upon teaching English language intensively to the freshmen. In addition, the freshmen will study customized Arabic-focused syllabuses to hone up their writing skills.
Providing three majors, the department is tailored on studying the modern-day trends in mass communication teaching adopted in benchmark universities in the U.S. and Europe. In addition, it serves the domestic labor market in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The Mass Communication Department plan stands out as it fulfills standards set by the domestic and international accreditation agencies, particularly those pertaining to restructuring the syllabuses by the department on and off campus, including the supporting syllabuses. This serves the approach that media men should have the deep knowhow on various majors and spheres of media action.
There are some other training programs not in the crux of Mass Communication Department; however, they are set to earn the degree. In-house training, for example, is a requirement that helps train undergrads on various on-the-job skills, and enriches practice for course books. This is in addition to scheduling visits for the undergraduates to media agencies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and overseas.
Thanks to the KKU rector’s directives, an attention to Mass Communication Department is paid to activate the mass communication paradigm on campus, including, developing Afaq, the weekly campus newspaper – the first campus newspaper nationwide and in the region. This is in addition to establishing a sophisticated media center, including studios, to be labs for training the undergrads to meet the KKU needs from media perspective.