Electronic media needs strong content - minister

Abu Dhabi: Content should not be overshadowed by the technology aspect of online media as web-based information gets more popular, said Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

"US News, the No 3 newsmagazine in the United States behind Time and Newsweek, has become the latest US media outlet to abandon print for the web. The Christian Science Monitor, a national daily in the US, has announced that in April 2009 it will shift from a daily print format to an online publication," the minister said.

Increasing relevance

Shaikh Nahyan touched on the increasing relevance of web editions while giving the keynote address at a conference on "Electronic Media: Challenges and Opportunities" at the Abu Dhabi Men's College on Sunday.

The two-day conference is being hosted by the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) in association with the first Arabic online newspaper, elaph.com.

Elaph.com was testimony to the success and relevance of Arabic online news media, he said.

The success of electronic media is dependent on the quality of journalists and the UAE is committed to producing qualified experts, academics and professionals for the media, he said.

Nick Guthrie, editor of Dateline London, BBC, said the increase in the number of internet users to 1.5 billion proved the relevance of the web medium. He was speaking on the topic "You are not online? Then you can't be a serious journalist."

Several newspapers in the West enjoy a bigger readership for online editions than print editions, Guthrie pointed out. "Wall Street Journal has ten times more online readers than print readers," he said.

Referring to the growing importance of blogs, Guthrie said 12 million adults in the US regularly contributed to blogs that found 57 million readers. "About 39 per cent of online users are reading blogs," which he described as an online revolution none could afford to miss.

Responding to Guthrie's assertion that media groups can't be taken seriously unless they go online, Francis Matthew, editor at large, Gulf News, said seriousness was a prerequisite whether online or otherwise.

Clutter and prejudice

Mathhew added that "a major problem of working online is dealing with the clutter and prejudice which is all over the place and emphasises the importance of good editors to produce reliable sites."

Crocker Snow, director of the Edward R. Murrow Centre for Public Diplomacy, Tuffs University; Helena Frith Powell, blogger and columnist, The National; Alexandra Pringle, editor in chief, Bloomsbury; Rasheed Al Samh, blogs editor, The National; and Bill Parkinson, technical manager, BBC, also took part in panel discussions.

Dubai Men's College hosts deliberations on the second day of the conference.