File picture used for representation.
Held under the patronage of Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer Al Thani, Chairman of Al Jazeera Media Network, AJMN’s “Future of Media – Leaders’ Summit” concluded yesterday at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Doha.
The Summit, the first of its kind in the region, prominent figures and leaders of the world’s top broadcasting and media organisations to discuss innovation and transformation strategies in the face of digital disruption.
The closing day began with a pair of presentations about the ways increased social media use has affected media organisations’ relationship with their content and audiences.
Keynote speaker Mohammed Nanabhai, Deputy CEO at Media Development Investment Fund, outlined how quickly the way news organisations and their audiences interact have changed.
He reminded attendees that as recently as 20 years ago, information moved in one direction, from media providers to consumers. Since then, however, the flow has become increasingly back-and-forth.
“People on social media are now the first one to cover events such as protests, and that in turn drives media coverage. That coverage then then drives people to take part in these events, which creates even more coverage on social media. It becomes a cycle,” Nanabhai said.
Al Jazeera Executive Director Dr Yaser Bisher addressed the changing relationship between media and audience in his presentation about Al Jazeera’s digital strategy. He outlined the major challenges Al Jazeera faces in a social media-driven world, including shortened attention spans, fragmentation of audiences, and the sheer volume of content being created.
Bisher urged attendees to focus on user experience, using the Apple iPhone as an example. The iPhone experience doesn’t begin when one turns the phone on, he said. Instead, it begins from the very idea of being a part of what is perceived of as a separate group—iPhone owners—and that experience is reinforced by Apple’s stores and buying experience.
As media organisations become more connected to their audience, the opportunities for hostile actors to take advantage of that connectivity increase as well, said Haroon Meer, founder of South African firm "Thinkst Applied Research". His presentation on cyber security and the broadcast industry served as a wake-up call for a field he said has been until recently isolated from such threats.
The afternoon began with a presentation by Ken Morse, Media CIO at Cisco Systems, who spoke about the way newsrooms are evolving in the digital age. “Media distribution is absolutely going through a renaissance,” he said.
In closing the Summit, Dr. Mostefa Souag, Acting Director General of Al Jazeera Media Network, said, “This conference represents a unique opportunity for TV and digital media professionals in our region to discuss ideas related to the latest technologies relevant to their work, and to learn about the latest technological innovations in television broadcasting, digital media platforms, cloud storage, data security and content dissemination. We hope that it has contributed to a clearer picture of the future of the media and the expected changes in the nature of our work, so that we can prepare to keep pace with this development and make maximum use of it.”
Along with Al Jazeera, sponsors of the event include Cisco, Microsoft, Avid, CommVault, SAP, Smart Global, and Tech Mahindra, as well as the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
