NNA - Prime Minister Najib Mikati held a meeting on Friday with the audio-visual media council, in the presence of Information Minister Walid Daouk, with talks featuring high on the freedom of press in Lebanon.



"It is the foundation for democracy," Mikati said, assuring that no politician could assume his responsibility fully and with total sincerity without free media that convey to the people nothing but the country's reality.



"The audio-visual media scene requires objective and responsible evaluation. It is true that this is not the responsibility of the state alone as it [the state] must cooperate with diverse media organizations in a bid to achieve a safe media community," the Premier noted.



"I am sure that those in charge of audio-visual and written media seek to play a national role, out of their sense of patriotism," he confirmed, adding that cooperation and coordination agreement ought to be implemented soon.



Accordingly, Premier Mikati called on the press to deal with the current situation in the country and in the neighborhood as objectively and responsibly as possible.



"Lebanon managed to distance itself, so far, from the implications of what is happening in the surroundings regions, despite all the attempts by certain media resources to drag it into the crisis," he concluded.



===========D.K.