AmCham Qatar hosts final session on US Presidential elections

The American Chamber of Commerce in Qatar (AmCham Qatar) yesterday hosted the third and final installment of its popular “Distinguished Speaker Series” focusing on the US Presidential elections, this time analysing the often unpredictable campaign and its outcomes through the lens of media coverage and the significant role played by social media.
The third session of the “Presidential Predications Forum” offered an analytical perspective on the historical campaign. As members and observers of the role media plays in today’s society, AmCham panelists shared their perspectives on President Trump’s relationship with the press and how that could evolve and impact his Presidency and the world’s view of the United States.
AmCham Qatar Chairman Robert A Hager said, “The American Chamber of Commerce in Qatar welcomes the 45th President of the United States of America to the Oval Office and wishes him the best as our new Commander in Chief. With this, we are entering a new era of American politics with a significant new focus on the private sector. We look forward to working with the business community in Qatar to help offer guidance and share intelligence about the pace of progress under the new Administration.”
Northwestern Qatar (NU-Q) Dean and CEO Everette E Dennis was back to moderate the panel, which featured some new faces and old favourites. One of the two new prominent panelists speaking at the event included Ali Mustafa, who is a digital journalist for Turkey’s national public broadcaster’s English content service TRT World.
Another new addition to the panel was Craig LaMay, an Associate Professor of Journalism at NU-Q on leave from the university’s home campus in Evanston, Illinois. Jocelyn Mitchell, Assistant Professor of Political Science at NU-Q, who teaches comparative and American politics, was back to share her impressions and discuss her thoughts on the way we will view elections and gauge public opinion in the future.
During the previous panel discussion, panel moderator and NU-Q Dean and CEO Dennis warned against a premature prediction of election results noting that: “In American elections, anything can happen and sometimes does,” which proved prophetic as results began rolling in on November 9th. At the same time, Professor Mitchell speculated that outdated polling models would be liable for erroneous predictions of a Clinton win — a prediction that became a key focus of election coverage and analysis of Election Day results. “This presents an interesting challenge for pollsters and data analysts to review how we capture and weigh opinion, something that we will surely be working on in the months to come.”