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UAE Media: COVID-19 Prompts Industry for Rapid Digital Transformation

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First-of-Its-Kind Survey Addresses Media Industry Amidst COVID-19 Challenges

       * 78.6% of participants consider Financial Stability as the biggest challenge for media institutions in light of COVID-19 pandemic
       * Quarantine represents the greatest challenge for 92.3% of workers in media sector
       * Sulaiman AlHattlan: Survey aimed at keeping abreast of the rapid changes in the media landscape.
       * AlHattlan: Survey provides future insights that contribute to the development and sustainability of the media sector.
       * Recommendations: Expediting an integrated digitization process is essential

Hattlan Media, the leading public relations and media consultancy services company, commissioned the first-of-its-kind industry survey in the UAE, gathering insights from media professionals and journalists from Arab and international organizations. The survey addressed the media industry amidst the global challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and their overall impact on the industry.

Journalists in the print media made up 48.3% of the total survey participants, while participants working in the broadcast and digital media constituted 33.3% and 18.4%, respectively. Respondents’ job positions varied between reporters and editors (39.8%), managers (21.6%), freelancers (26.1%) and presenters and producers (12.5%). 74.2% of all respondents had worked remotely during quarantine, while 25.8% worked out of their offices.

The survey underlined the pandemic’s major role in accelerating the digital transformation of print media institutions, which was presumably planned for a full transformation to take place over the coming years. It also highlighted the importance of upgrading digital media content within the plan to make the print editions obsolete. On the other side, respondents indicated that the main challenges they faced under these exceptional global circumstances are as follows: Difficulty to get interviews, delay in submitting material, as well as the difficulty in accessing information.

Figures & Percentages:

Regarding the shift towards digitization, 84.2% of the managers in the media sector and 82.6% of freelancers who participated in the survey believe that now is the right time for adopting and expediting digitization, especially in light of the isolation caused by the pandemic. Still 18% of total respondents see that it is still early to take this step.

In terms of the general impact on the working team performance, 52.8% of respondents affirmed that the current situation did not significantly affect them or the team’s work mechanism, while 47.2% felt otherwise.

As for the challenges faced by the media sector during the COVID-19 crisis, 78.6% of print media workers identified “financial stability” as the most pressing challenge facing the sector; especially after various media institutions resorted to budget cuts. Furthermore, 92.3% of workers in the broadcast media emphasized that “quarantine” was the biggest challenge for media institutions.

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Moreover, 46% of survey respondents confirmed that many media organizations were affected by the budget cuts, while 33.7% were not sure that these institutions were affected by such measures. On the other hand, 60% of print media workers and 44% of digital media workers who participated in the survey believed that their institutions were subject to budget cuts; where the most affected were editors, reporters, and freelancers.

40% of respondents believe that the future direction of the media industry requires a move towards the adoption of remote working as well as various other technologies. Those respondents argued for the need to deliver strong content across social media platforms. While others suggested a balanced approach between print and digital media.

With respect to content offered, 72.7% of respondents affirmed that there is a major shift towards providing COVID-19-centered content, especially in the broadcast media sector. 63.2% of managers taking part in the survey supported the same view.

Objective of the Survey:

Commenting on the survey, Dr. Sulaiman AlHattlan, CEO of Hattlan Media, said: “Media is one of the most important and strategic sectors across the world, especially that it plays a major role during crises and disasters. It is only through analyzing media and the various challenges it faces; we can lay the foundation for designing a crisis-focused media plan. The industry can also play a vital role in raising awareness of the need to adhere to the instructions issued by the concerned authorities in such exceptional circumstances.”

“The survey, which saw wide participation of media professionals in various positions, aims to keep pace with the rapid changes in the industry and offer broad views that contribute to the sustainability of the media sector. It also focuses on ways to develop the sector and efforts to upgrading media content to keep up with the requirements of modern media,” added AlHattlan.

Furthermore, Dr. AlHattlan explained: “The need to keep abreast of the rapid developments currently taking place in the world requires us to identify the current industry trends. This was the biggest motivation for launching this major survey, which contributes to developing clear visions for the future of digital media in the UAE and the region. We hope the survey will help public relations agencies in the UAE understand how to develop content suited to current conditions.”

Recommendations:

The research team, conducting the survey concluded the study with a set of recommendations, including: It is essential to expedite an integrated digitization process, developing mechanisms and laws governing the remote working operations, adopting alternative sources of finance to avert financial crises, as well as the progressive reduction of print media and giving greater focus to online.

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Public Relations for Expo2020

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If you work in the PR industry, you know that not one day is like the other. The ever-changing industry keeps moving and shaking things, creating new tools, and introducing new schemes to achieve the ultimate objective: to reach the target audience with the right set of messages and cause impact. And if you work in the PR industry in the UAE, you know you’re up for a very exciting journey. Not only the business keeps changing, but there are new industries that are continuously introduced to the market, thanks to the strong vision of the UAE to stay ahead of others in new areas and trends, and its strive to attract global initiatives and events to its land.

Around a year ago, Hattlan Media had the pleasure to start working with the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, the home for the National Space Programme. 

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We are PRing Space. A whole new industry not only to the UAE but to the region. While it is a great honour to be the only Public Relations agency to ever announce the first Emirati Arab astronaut going to space in a grand press conference dubbed by some media as “the press conference of the year”, or the ones to PR the launch of the first 100% Emirati manufactured satellite, KhalifaSat, the task is huge ….there’s a lot of education that needed to take place internally within Hattlan Media before we can claim that we know what we are doing. You might think, the rules of PR are quite the same for all industries, with the slight change of tactics from one scheme to another…but for Space, the ballgame is different. The level of accuracy in information we work with throws away the “Spin Doctors” label. The industry is not new to us only, it is new to the media and to the larger audience. Our main role continues to be educating audience about the initiatives and programmes: what it means for the first Emirati- Arab astronaut to go to the International Space Station? And how it affects, not only the UAE and the region, but the whole world with new scientific findings expected to emerge from this mission. Same goes for launching a probe to Mars to study its atmospheric layers and provide new findings about the Red Planet. How launching a 100% Emirati Earth Observing (EO) satellite (KhalifaSat) is set to inspire generations of Emiratis who now know that they also can do it!  

Speaking of PRing new “things” brings us to Dubai Expo 2020!

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In 2013, the UAE won hosting Expo 2020! A great victory and a great moment for everyone. We all celebrated as we saw Dubai gain the majority of votes against its rival cities. Then came the question: But, what is Expo?! And what does it mean for the UAE, and for us, people living in Dubai. Our eyes were all hung on 2020, most plans and strategies revolved around this date. Recently, the answer to our question has started to unfold. We are seeing more of Expo branded content in the news. But it shouldn’t only be about Expo, it is about public and private sectors bringing in their best practices in communications, it is about innovation and foreseeing the future; it is about making history. PRing Expo, similar to PRing Space, involves educating others about facts and case studies more than promoting stories. Probably very few know that the Expo that will be hosted in Dubai in 2020 is a “registered Expo” which only happens every 5 years and is different than the one happening this year in Beijing China, for example.

Expo is a great platform to communicate not only Expo messages, but also the country’s vision to bring in an international dialogue between different countries from around the world to find innovation-based solutions for challenges human kind currently faces. If you are a government organisation, an FMCG brand, an NGO, or a start up company, Expo might be a good platform to connect with others and communicate your brand values. How to do so and guarantee a successful delivery of your communication strategy? Is the one million dirhams question, and you might want  to contact us to find out how we can help you with your public relations for Expo 2020.

Dr Sulaiman Al Hattlan of Hattlan Media
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Al Hattlan: Media Training Is More Than Spinning Messages

Hattlan Media founder emphasises getting the word out in Arabic for businesses as well.

Dubai: Dr Sulaiman Al Hattlan does not much care for giving spin to a message. As a media training consultant and founder of Hattlan Media, he believes more will be gained by ensuring a message — be it from any organisation or individual — finds a direct and immediate connect with the intended audience.

“Media training is not only about the messages — it’s about breaking the fear barrier and learning how to truly represent your organisation and brand with strong messages and also strong presentations,” said Al Hattlan, whose roster includes retainer clients as well as those who come in strictly on a project basis.

“At the end of the day, no journalist would appreciate an interview where the spokesperson is communicating confused messages and unclear answers. It is an opportunity for spokespeople to appreciate the work of media and realise its power in turning any potential “publicity crisis” that would negatively affect the organisation’s image into a positive experience with positive outcomes.”

Clearly, Al Hattlan wants to be quite some distance removed from the unctuous world of spin doctors and loaded messages that get churned out day in, day out into the media universe. It is also a highly splintered industry with new digital platforms and news aggregators being created and ravenous for 24×7 content generation.

“I am personally a great believer in how digital age has changed many ‘rules of the game’ in communications,” said Al Hattlan. “New media is offering extra platforms for communications and, in some cases depending on the client’s target audience, these have become the primary communication channels that the client needs to focus on.”

One area that Al Hattlan focuses on is to ensure his clients acquire an ease in communicating in Arabic. “We do live in a cosmopolitan society and English seems to be the common language,” said Al Hattlan. “But we also live in Arab countries where the government’s first language is Arabic.

“Communicating your business in Arabic doesn’t only reinforce your Arabic identity but also opens up new opportunities for non-Arab companies through reaching a wider audience in the region.

“We don’t see a problem with Arabic spokespeople communicating in English, but it’s their skills in communicating in Arabic that need harnessing. Many a time it’s because of the industry where the terminologies are better known in English and not Arabic.

“Our command in Arabic language and knowledge of cultural and political sensitivities of the region allow us to help organisations to craft their messages in Arabic and communicate it according to best practices.”

And what should clients not lose sight of under any circumstances? According to Al Hattlan, they should stay on message, don’t be intimidated and enjoy.