Manama: The epicentre of Arab media has moved from traditional players such as Egypt and Lebanon to Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, a symposium in Qatar was told.
Mohammad Zayani, a visiting associate professor at Georgetown University in Qatar, said the trend was evident in the redistribution of new satellites. The change has been happening over the last two decades and has been helped by the petrodollars the Gulf countries have invested to promote the media and have satellites in orbit, he added.
Zayani was speaking at a symposium whose topic was "From media revolution to street revolution: Twenty years of Arab commercial satellite television".
Experts at the symposium also said Arab media was undergoing a rapid and significant transformation.
Debates organised at the event by the North Western University in Qatar covered the changing roles of media professionals and teaching in media institutions, Qatari daily Gulf Times reported on Sunday.
The symposium is scheduled to hold a public discussion on the future of Arab satellite television that features media professionals and academics from around the world.
