Comprehensive report on Arab Media to be unveiled at Arab Media Forum

The report, titled "Arab Media Outlook", will focus in particular on print media, and within the print media, on news and current affairs, according to the organisers of the Arab Media Forum, The Dubai Press Club.

Agreement to develop the report was signed yesterday by Mona Al Marri, Chairperson of Dubai Press Club and Mike Stevenson of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

"Developing Arab media is one of our key priorities. This Report is in line with our efforts to support Arab media, and we are confident that this is a great step in the right way, as the Report will be the standard guide to the media industry in the Arab World," said Mona Al Marri.

"The Report will concentrate on people development, as we believe that qualified and trained human resources play a vital role in developing Media all around the Arab world".

Al Marri points out that the report will, in future, be published on an annual basis.

Arab Media Outlook It is a comprehensive report that will provide an overview of the Arab media industry, its current status, trends, impact and their implications for journalists as individuals and organisations in the Pan-Arab region.

Mike Stevenson, Middle East Managing Partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said: "PricewaterhouseCoopers is very pleased to support Dubai Press Club in launching the first edition on the Arab Media Outlook Report. This publication will provide insights to the important media sector which plays a vital role in the development of the region. We look forward to a long term relationship with Dubai Press Club to work together on this important endeavour".

The Report will be segmented into three main areas - Overall Media Trends, Developing People and Developing Organisations.

In the first segment, the Arab Media Outlook will discuss the relative industry status in the Middle East and internationally. The size and growth of media entities as well as response of listeners, readers and viewers will be discussed apart from advertising issues. It will discuss the emergence of new media and convergence in the industry.

The second segment of the Arab Media Outlook will be on developing the right people for the Arab media industry. It will discuss how good are media educational and training programmes, how journalists can make use of new media resources like blogs and youtube as well as the rights and status of journalists in the region.

The third segment of the Report will focus on developing media organisations and institutions. It will look into the role of Editor-in-Chiefs as CEOs. It will address issues of continuing education, training, development of journalists and media managers and research government-controlled media and present case studies.