Media & Advertising

Audience Growing Wary of Talk Shows that Degenerate into Patterns of Verbal or Physical Violence, Concur Arab Media ForumPanellists

Dubai-UAE: 9 May, 2012 –TV talk shows in the Arab region need to strike a balance between encouraging a fervent debate among guests in a bid to attract audiences and abiding by the code of ethics and their own conscience, according to experts during the final session of the 11th Arab Media Forum (AMF2012).
The panellists admitted that most viewers are drawn to talk shows for their entertainment value that such overheated debate brings, while its value as a platform that promotes dialogue is often side-lined. It was also pointed out that talk shows which habitually degenerate into verbal abuse and wrestling matches may eventually serve to alienate audiences.

Titled ‘Free Media and Free Wrestling’,the session highlighted changes in the language and the violent approach that is increasingly being adopted by the media during on-air conversations.

TEDxMuscat returns with more ‘Passion for Creation’

TEDxMuscat, the event that brings people together to share a TED-like experience, will take place on May 16^th at the Millennium Resort Mussanah and will feature inspirational talks, performances and a full day of networking and dialogue for all TEDx fans.

“Last year's TEDxMuscat was a great success and provided a platform for innovations; the talks and performances were awe-inspiring”, said Arun Raj, a TEDxMuscat event organiser.

Inspired by the renowned TED conferences, the key theme of this year's TEDxMuscat will be ‘Passion for Creation’, and topics will range from art, innovation, technology, and above all the amazing power of the human mind.

TEDxMuscat 2012 is an opportunity for leading visionaries and storytellers to speak to an amazing group of thinkers and doers, as well as to the world at large. The day-long event is not to be missed and will also be streamed live to various colleges and universities across the Sultanate.

Satyabrata Acharya, Host and Curator, and Roopesh Bhatnagar, event organiser, said: “At TEDxMuscat this year, we want to bring together tomorrow’s innovators and engage in a genuine discussion on ‘Passion for Creation’ with the goal of inspiring, informing and entertaining the audience. This year too TEDxMuscat is bringing an incredible line-up of keynote speakers who, in line with the TEDx tradition, will be challenged to give ‘the talk of his or her life’.

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’. Started as a four-day conference in California 26 years ago, TED has grown to support world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. TED brings together the world’s leading thinkers and doers to share ideas that count in any discipline -- technology, entertainment, design, science, humanities, business, and development. The talks at the conference, “TEDTalks,” are then made available to watch for free on TED.com.

The event’s sponsors include Brand Oman, the Information Technology Authority, Nawras, Oman Oil, Omran, Samsung and the Millennium Resort Mussanah.

TEDxMuscat is open to the public and requires an application to register. For more information please visit www.tedxmuscat.com.

The educational concepts, Collaborative Learning (CoL) and Learning on the Move (LOTM), have been shown an amazing satisfaction and to be highly effective in Singapore. This may be a great thing to be tried in Oman.

“A combination of fun and learning is the most effective way of learning,” Lee Kan Wee added. The application can also be used as tourist guide. At the COMEX 2012 workshop, Lee Kan Wee demonstrated the Application on his own smart phone. He showed us how the application ‘pops out’ or starts, when someone walks nearby a tourist attraction place; the application then gives you brief information about the attraction.

Lee Kan Wee, General Manager of LDR, one of the group of Singaporean companies currently exhibiting at COMEX, said, “This type of education develops creativity, imagination and encourages leadership in both students and teachers.” Students and teachers can make their own trails of pictures and videos. Teachers won’t have to stick around students when they are outdoors either; a GPS system is able to track students. Using the Interactive Mobile Learning Trails application, teachers are able to notice individual student’s performances, as all shared information students have made will be sent to the teacher’s smart phone.

The Interactive Mobile Learning Trails is smart phone application which uses the two concepts, CoL and LOTM. This smart phone application is exclusively used in Singaporean schools and universities. When learning is taking place out of doors, students and teachers can use this application to take photos and videos of museums, palaces, insects or any other thing connected to the

subject they are learning on. They can then share information about the subject they studying using the smart phone’s voice or video recorder with their student peers.

The two educational learning concepts, Collaborative Learning (CoL) and Learning on the Move (LOTM) are based on innovative interactive tools which use ICT to reach higher levels of learning and teaching.

The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) has developed top notch educational technology themes and is currently exhibiting at the nation’s largest IT, Telecoms and Technology show, COMEX 2012, and hopes to attract the Sultanate’s educational official’s interests.

Results of new study unveiled at Arabian Travel Market a must-have for destinations targeting Gulf travelers - Qataris are highest spenders abroad with daily average of U.S $4,100 followed by KSA $3,360 and UAE $3,280

The findings of a recent study on the outbound travel habits of GCC nationals were revealed today (Wednesday 2 May) during a session held as part of the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2012 seminar series.

Authored by Sunil Malhotra, senior lecturer at the Emirates Aviation College, the study, entitled ‘The Outbound GCC Travel Market - Unique Trends and Characteristics of GCC Nationals’, interviewed 2,500 GCC nationals about their travel habits over a 12-month period from January to December 2011.

•    Rising cost of living is greatest concern for young people in Middle East, according to annual poll of 2,500 young Arabs in 12 countries
•    Optimism about future and trust in government increase – but lack of democracy and civil unrest seen as obstacles to progress
•    UAE cited as model nation by Arab youth; France now seen most favourably among foreign countries

Dubai, UAE;May2, 2012:Earning a fair wage and owning a home are now the two highest priorities for young people in the Middle East – displacing “living in a democracy” as the greatest aspiration of regional youth, according to the findings of the ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey 2012, the largest study of its kind of the region’s largest demographic.

Informed by 2,500 interviews conducted by international polling firm Penn Schoen Berland (PSB) in 12 Middle East states one year after the start of the Arab Spring, the findings of the Fourth Annual ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey highlight how larger political concerns have now been superseded by more personal, economic anxieties.

It's natural for human beings to be curious, express interest in discovering new countries and continents, learn about foreign cultures. How do you “visit the whole world” without leaving your hometown? Obviously, via the Internet! Free communication often faces an obstacle – language barrier, but advanced modern technologies can now take care of that.

Dubai, 1st of May, 2012 – Following its great success in the Gulf countries and The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the world's first multilingual social network dudu.com, announced from its head quarters in Dubai, UAE its official launch in Russia. The event took place in Moscow, Russia in presence of H.E. the Minister of Telecommunications Mr. Igor Shchyogolev, Mr. Evgeny Kuyvashev, Plenipotentiary Envoy to the President of Russia, and Mr. Magomedsalam Magovedov, President of Dagestan, and attracted a lot of local celebrities, business elite and politicians. Guests at the event showed a lot of interest in the new social service  and witnessed how dudu.com removes language barriers and opens new format of online communication – with no limits. The launch of the social network in Russia comes after the official launch of dudu.com and the introduction of Arabic language that took place last October in Dubai.

Asian Lite, edited by Indian-origin journalist Anasudhin Azeez, won the prestigious How-Do newspaper of the year award for 2012.

A judging panel comprised of BBC veteran Jim Hancock and Google’s Andy Barke selected Asian Lite as the Newspaper of the Year 2012 from the short-list of eight leading British titles including Rupert Murdoch owned News Corporations’ The Times;  Newsquest’s The Bolton News and Johnston Press Group’s Lancaster Guardian.

Asain Lite was the only British ethnic media title shortlisted in the 18 award categories.  The award ceremony was held at prestigious Lancashire County Cricket Club. The event was attended by several media personalities and industry leaders.

Maryam Bin Fahad: “Report highlights shifts in consumption patterns and revenue forecasts for advertising, print copy circulation, online and Pay TV segments up to 2015”

Dubai-UAE: 30 April, 2012– Recent events in the Arab world have generated a relatively positive impact on the regional media, raising the bar on the quality of news reporting, accelerating the engagement with digital platforms and firmly placing the region on the strategic map of global media houses, announced Maryam Bin Fahad, Executive Director, Dubai Press Club.

Bin Fahad added: “In several markets directly affected by the political uprisings, the structure of the media industry is virtually being overhauled with a significant break from the past. However, the pace of media reform in these markets is likely to be gradual with the pressing economic and political issues being taken up as immediate priorities.”