A Success Story with the Journalist Marcel Ghanem at Beirut Arab University

The Journalist Marcel Ghanem, the child, the young man, the citizen, the lawyer, the broadcaster, the interviewer, the anchor – all these are milestones in the success story of a media person who dedicated his voice and his platform to the people. After 18 years, he chose to issue a brilliant episode, and discuss it with the audience and Lebanese university students, page by page, milestone by milestone, in an interview entitled “Success Story”, hosted by Beirut Arab University. The event was held on the 24th of April 2013 in Beirut Site and was attended by BAU students from various faculties and majors especially Media Students, employees, in addition to prominent politicians, media people, unionists and artists, who had come to browse through the pages of this story of success.

The event was attended by Prof. Dr. Amr Galal El Adawi, President of BAU, Mr. Issam Houry, BAU Secretary General, MP Dr. Ammar Houry, representing H.E. Mr. Saad El Hariri and H.E. Mr. Fouad Sanyoura, Mohamed Baalbaki President of the Lebanese Press Syndicate, as well as the administrative and academic staff of BAU and the deans.

The event took the form of a talk-show, presented and moderated by Mrs. Zina Ariss, Director of Public Relations Administration. She opened the event with a moment of silence in commemoration of the Caricaturist Pierre Sadik. In her presentation of Marcel Ghanem, she described him as “A different kind of success story that created a platform for the people who granted him distinguished insignia as the voice of the people.” She also pointed out the most significant milestones of Ghanem’s professional and media career, after which a clip was shown that had been prepared especially for this occasion. The clip was an audio-visual summary of Ghanem’s success story.

Ghanem and Ariss next went on stage where a “studio” had been set up. Ghanem highlighted the tremendous responsibility that falls upon a media person’s shoulders when transferring his experiences to the people, in particular to university youths. He expressed his faith in the new generation of university students, moving on to show how his childhood and youth had been affected by his brother, George Ghanem. He admitted that he constantly elicits his brother’s advice in political issues relevant to his show “Kalam El Nass” (People’s Talk), as well as in every other daily detail.

After confessing to his missing the radio that had introduced him to the world of media and to public opinion, and after also confessing that he regretted his time as a lawyer, a career in which he did not find himself, Ghanem talked about his talk-show “Kalam El Nass”, reminiscing about its launching 18 years ago. He elaborated on the pressing political and security challenges of that phase, which provided the basis for the determination to continue the program. He further praised the efforts exerted by the old and new work-teams who accompanied the program and were partners contributing to its success.

Ghanem also spoke about the efforts made in the preparation for the episodes of “Kalam El Nass”, in terms of material, questions, reports, securing suitable guests, getting ready for urgent episodes through ceaseless follow-up and monitoring of political situations. He expressed his happiness at the success of the program and its interaction with social networks during the past seven years.

In answer to a question about who his Lebanese and Arab competitors are, Ghanem maintained that any professional and successful face is a competition, and called upon all media institutions to reconsider productions and useful content, to replace entertainment programs. Asked about the political dialogue in Lebanon, Ghanem rejected what he called “Talk show-offs and the search for sensationalism”, criticizing the lack of objectivity, accuracy and professionalism in various political programs.

Ghanem explained his continuation with LBC for 18 years, rather than moving to other institutions despite generous offers was in the light of the sense of loyalty that LBC had fostered in him. He also attributed the reason why his program “Mubashar maa Marcel Ghanem” (Live with Marcel Ghanem) to the disputes with LBCI, stressing at the same time the importance and success of the program despite its relatively short life-span.

 

Ghanem argued that a successful broadcaster stumbles every time he fails to censor his performance and style, and every time he fails to provide sufficient spaces for people’s concerns, problems and issues.

Ghanem also pointed out that there is a special pleasure in education and transferring media and TV experiences to mass communication students. He addressed the Mass Communication students at BAU, advising them to read, to open their horizons, to build up a political and general culture, to adopt speech and communication techniques, to interact with the other, and to reach out ethically and professionally to the people through field work, and not the other way round.

Ghanem concluded by asserting that he is not running for parliamentary elections, stressing his satisfaction with his career as an interviewer, and that he has no ambitions for any political posts despite many offers.

The floor was opened for discussions, and Ghanem answered the questions raised by the students and the audience, after which Prof. Dr. Amr Galal El Adawi gave a speech. He hailed Ghanem as a successful and distinguished media-person. Prof. El Adawi further told Ghanem that the employees and students at BAU constantly exchange views on each weekly episode of the most prominent interviewer’s program as a model of success and high viewer ratings. 

Prof. Al Adawi presented Ghanem a shield in appreciation of his success, inviting him to visit the Mass Communication Department and Media Center at BAU, as well as to visit the Debbieh, Tripoli and Bekaa Sitees.

The event was concluded with the cutting of a cake carrying the logo of “Kalam EL Nass” in celebration of the 18 anniversary of the program.