Media, in all its forms, is an enlightening cultural tool for people all over the world. In a fragmented world ruled by parties, there is no such thing as a completely integrated media or press. When we talk about today's reality, we want to know the role the media plays in representing whoever reads and watches it. Does the media express the opinions of the public truthfully? Or does it not? Before asking these questions, do people watch TV channels and read newspapers, which at one point used to be the only source of news available to them, or have they stopped doing that after the emergence of satellite channels and social media websites, especially Twitter? Let us speak frankly. The simple citizen no longer trusts the government-run television and the press. This fact is manifested by the millions of people who have shifted their preferences to Twitter where they can talk about what is going on freely. In a nutshell, the citizen has lost his trust in the media and has decided to be a news reporter himself. He uses simple tools to talk about what is happening in society without sugarcoating it. The question that comes to one's mind is this: Is this a global shift or a domestic one? Of course, people all over the world are shifting preferences to social media sites. However, people in the West still trust their traditional media - the TV and the press. The newspapers and the TV channels speak with the same freedom the Twitterverse offers. It is noted that people in the countries that grant full freedom to the press and TV tend to focus in their tweets on their personal problems and worries rather than on social issues. We have not reached this stage yet and it seems that we are very close to ever getting there. It comes as no surprise that most hashtags tweeted by people in advanced countries revolve around art, food, and fashion while ours around poverty, low salaries, high living expenses, shortage of housing, etc. We do not talk about such social topics because we are grumpy people who love to complain a lot. It is because our media is not as free. Citizens have even lost trust in some of the programs aired by non-government TV channels. They view such programs as a waste of time. Instead, they prefer to go to the Twitterverse where they can write about things the press does not report on. Citizens are still looking for the day when they see their concerns being reported and raised in the media. The performance of the Shoura Council in this regard is still unsatisfactory for many. The media, which is supposed to reflect what is going on in society, has not performed well as well. In fact, pertinent authorities should help us restore our trust in our media. Journalists should evaluate the news reported to citizens to see if it reflects citizens' concerns. We also need columnists who criticize events without any hypocrisy or engaging in pointless issues related to current currents. There is always light at the end of the tunnel. Prince Khalid Bin Bandar, emir of Riyadh, has said recently opinion writers should focus in their articles on what citizens need. He said they play an important role in conveying the concerns of citizens to the pertinent authorities. This is an important statement, which clearly says that the government will not ignore what is written in the media. The ball is in the columnists' court now. Writers should not hesitate about criticizing certain government agencies if the latter fail to serve citizens. Authorities want the columnists to bring up such issues and criticize the performance of agencies. Saudis have become addicted to Twitter because in it they play the role of journalists, columnists, photographers, and reporters. They can report news and criticize government agencies while tweeters in some countries are preoccupied with the latest news of Justin Bieber and Miley Cryus than with social issues. – Makkah
