‘Developing content must for traditional media’

Traditional media in the region are battling it out with digital platforms to remain relevant in a society that demands content at the tip of their fingers.

Speaking at the Arab Media Forum, experts in the Arab print and broadcasting industry focused on the challenges that newspapers and television networks currently face and discussed a change in technology will change the course of the future. Mona Bu Samra, managing editor-in-chief of Al

Bayan newspaper, said: “I cannot imagine a life without newspapers. To sustain, developing newspaper content is imperative.”

In another session, Albert Shafik, director of Extra News Egyptian TV Channel, said television is short on content. “Young people are resorting to digital content as television is boring, and there is a lot of ‘talk on TV’ and not enough visuals.” He stated this phenomenon is potentially boring young viewers. He suggested content needs to be fast.

Johannes Larcher, managing director of MBC Digital, said linear television has to compete with social media. “Social media is tremendously popular in the Middle East, and the level of engagement is the highest than anywhere else in the world,” explained Larcher.

He added: “MBC uses social media to promote our channels. It drives our audiences back to television and attracts them also to our digital platforms,” he said.

Shafik also suggested that Western media is competitive in developing content. “Arab media still resort to subtitles and dubbing, and more needs to be done to make the content interactive and appealing to the younger generations,” he added.