March 27th, 2017: Students from the School of Communication & Media Studies at Canadian University Dubai (CUD) have heard from leading media experts about the future of the industry at the 12th edition of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers Middle East Conference, held recently in Dubai.
Led by Assistant Professor, Dr. Lakhdar Chadli, the CUD delegation was the only higher education institution to be invited to attend this year’s Conference, which brought together media practitioners from around the world to discuss the latest regional and international trends and best practices in the field.
Following the welcome address by Guest of Honour, His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Cabinet Member and Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, the Conference saw a series of presentations and panel discussions on a range of media-related topics, from embedding innovation and driving revenue growth, to the challenges of the digital transformation.
According to Dr. Chadli, there were a number of important takeaways for students from the event, including the message to fight fake news in order to save journalism. He said, “Journalists and media professionals need to innovate to overcome the challenges posed by an age in which misleading and unverified information ‘flows indiscriminately’ across the digital sphere.”
The students were also involved in the debate surrounding how the video officially became the future of online news, and what visual storytelling could do for the digital world. They discussed the business aspects of development, with emphasis on the rise of video advertisements as a way to monetize video content, and they took part in the dialogue on how to make successful videos.
The role of media education was also in the spotlight, as Dr. Chadli revealed, “The question for media is how to organize strategy - how to engage the audience and how universities can be part of developing and supporting programs, and offering classes in news and media for the digital landscape.”
The CUD delegation was also invited to be part of the World Digital Media Awards, which took place as part of the conference, to celebrate quality, credibility, creativity and innovation in a range of media contexts.
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