logo
‘News is a human need and not a luxury,' says MBC leader at Arab Media Summit

‘News is a human need and not a luxury,' says MBC leader at Arab Media Summit

Arab News27-05-2025
DUBAI: 'News is a human need and not a luxury,' said MBC's Group Director Ali Jaber in Dubai on Tuesday.
'It is a need for everyone to know what's happening around us, a world without news is not a world that we would ever live in,' said Jaber in a session at the Arab Media Summit.
'Social media and traditional media have a complementary relationship, social media has none of the restrictions that traditional media outlets have.
'Social media platforms are not journalistic platforms but can be utilized for that purpose,' he said.
Jaber said social media has proven to influence change in the news world, and cited the crisis in Gaza as an example. Jaber said he believes global outrage from the youth was mobilized by social media.
'Social media moved generations during the Gaza crisis, especially since traditional media in the West failed. Social media filled the gap that was generated by the obvious bias in Western traditional media,' said Jaber.
'Under the motto of freedom of speech, social media is attracting a larger number of audience who are trying to find faster and shorter news to consume,' he said.
Jaber said traditional media needs to implement the quick and fast nature of social media.
'We are in a changing world, it's naive to say traditional media will stay dominant … We have to teach newsrooms to write 360 news that can be adapted into any form including social media,' he added.
'TV benefited a lot from social media, we use social media as a means of promoting for us, we need to have a community that we can work with around the clock and that is promoted by social media,' he said.
Jaber said although he is an artificial intelligence skeptic, he believes education is key to utilizing this technology safely and to their full potential.
'AI is a real milestone and a great pillar of everything we want to do … AI will be a key part of our work in the journalism world,' he added.
'We need to educate people on how to deal with things like fake news and other problems that may arise from utilizing AI,' he said.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

White House launches TikTok with Trump saying ‘I am your voice'
White House launches TikTok with Trump saying ‘I am your voice'

Al Arabiya

time3 hours ago

  • Al Arabiya

White House launches TikTok with Trump saying ‘I am your voice'

The White House launched an official TikTok account on Tuesday, taking advantage of the short video app's more than 170 million US users to spread the messages of President Donald Trump. Trump has a soft spot for the popular app, crediting it with helping him gain support among young voters when he defeated Democrat Kamala Harris in the November 2024 presidential election. Lawmakers in Washington worry, however, that its US user data could fall into the hands of China's government. Trump has been working on a deal for US investors to buy the app from TikTok's Chinese parent, ByteDance. Past intelligence assessments have said the app's owners are beholden to the Chinese government and that it could be used to influence Americans. The new account, @whitehouse, went live on Tuesday evening with an initial video showing footage of Trump as he declares: 'I am your voice.' 'America we are BACK! What's up TikTok?' the caption read. The TikTok account Trump used for his presidential campaign last year, @realdonaldtrump, has more than 15 million followers. The Republican president also relies heavily on his Truth Social account to deliver his message and posts occasionally on his X account. 'The Trump administration is committed to communicating the historic successes President Trump has delivered to the American people with as many audiences and platforms as possible,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. 'President Trump's message dominated TikTok during his presidential campaign, and we're excited to build upon those successes and communicate in a way no other administration has before,' she said. A 2024 law required TikTok to stop operating by January 19 of this year unless ByteDance had completed divesting the app's US assets or demonstrated significant progress toward a sale. Trump opted not to enforce the law after he began his second term as president on January 20. He first extended the deadline to early April, then to June 19 and then again to September 17. Extensions to the deadline have drawn criticism from some lawmakers, who argue the Trump administration is flouting the law and ignoring national security concerns related to Chinese control over TikTok.

Marketing Home's retained earnings exceed capital: CEO
Marketing Home's retained earnings exceed capital: CEO

Argaam

time13 hours ago

  • Argaam

Marketing Home's retained earnings exceed capital: CEO

Marketing Home Group for Trading Co. (MHG) reported retained earnings and cash of SAR 181 million in H1 2025, exceeding its SAR 160 million capital, CEO Musaad Algfari told CNBC Arabia, adding that this surplus enables loan-free expansions. He said the general assembly will decide post-IPO on ways to use these earnings, whether through cash dividends or other options. Algfari noted that MHG is not only a trader or manufacturer. It rather builds brands that bring new products to market, lifting profit margins to 21% in H1 2025 thanks to an 8% drop in expenses. The company operates more than 40 showrooms in Saudi Arabia, along with more outlets in the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, China and Spain, a footprint that has supported debt-free growth, with the next phase focusing on expansion into new sectors. He added that MHG boasts a project pipeline with various state-run entities, including Diriyah Co. and ROSHN. Besides, the company dominated the lighting sector with a 36% market share in 2023, while also maintaining strong positions in the sanitary ware and the ceramics sectors.

Saudi Arabia leads emerging markets in dollar debt issuances in H1: Fitch Ratings
Saudi Arabia leads emerging markets in dollar debt issuances in H1: Fitch Ratings

Arab News

time18 hours ago

  • Arab News

Saudi Arabia leads emerging markets in dollar debt issuances in H1: Fitch Ratings

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia accounted for 18.9 percent of the $250 billion US dollar debt issuance in emerging markets excluding China during the first half of 2025, Fitch Ratings said. The share was slightly higher than the 18.5 percent recorded during the first five months of 2024, when total issuance, without China, reached $200 billion. In the latest report, the US-based agency said that Saudi Arabia was followed by Brazil and the UAE, which accounted for 10.6 percent and 8.7 percent of the total issuances, respectively, during the first six months of 2025. Saudi Arabia's debt market has expanded rapidly in recent years, as both domestic and international investors seek diversification and stable returns. Earlier in August, a report released by Kuwait Financial Center, also known as Markaz, said the Kingdom led the Gulf Cooperation Council region's primary debt market in the first half of 2025, raising $47.93 billion through 71 bond and sukuk issuances. Markaz added that Saudi Arabia also accounted for 52.1 percent of the total GCC issuances during the period, cementing its position as the region's dominant fixed income market. In its latest report, Fitch said that emerging market liquidity conditions have improved since US tariff plans were announced in April 2025. It added: 'Fitch considers that geopolitical risks in the Middle East remain high, and a resumption of military activity is possible. However, the DCMs (debt capital markets) were resilient to the conflict in June. 'There is renewed foreign investor interest in EMs, which we believe reflects a desire to diversify away from concentration in US assets given trade war uncertainties and the effects of a weaker dollar.' According to the US-based credit rating agency, Mexico accounted for 7 percent of dollar debt issuances in emerging markets during the first half, followed by Turkiye at 6.7 percent, Indonesia at 6.4 percent, Malaysia at 4.1 percent, and Qatar at 3.2 percent. Sukuk — Shariah-compliant financial instruments — accounted for 13.7 percent of all emerging market dollar debt issuance in the first half. Growth in core Islamic markets According to the latest analysis, US dollar debt issuance from emerging markets was resilient in the first half of this year, and issuers from the GCC countries, along with Malaysia, Indonesia, and Turkiye, accounted for just over half of such issuance during the period. The report highlighted that large financing needs, diversification goals, and upcoming maturities are among the key drivers that propel the growth of dollar debt issuance in these core Islamic nations. Affirming the growth of the debt market in Saudi Arabia, which is steadily pursuing its economic diversification journey, Kamco Invest noted in December that the Kingdom would lead the GCC region in bond maturities over the next five years, with about $168 billion in Saudi bonds expected to mature between 2025 and 2029. The latest Fitch report further said that the GCC debt capital market crossed $1 trillion in outstanding volumes during the first half, with issuers from the region accounting for 35.5 percent of all emerging market dollar debt issuance. The report added that this growth trend is expected to continue in the coming months, driven by Saudi Arabia. 'The Saudi DCM will grow on ambitious government projects under Vision 2030, deficit funding and diversification efforts. In the UAE, budget surpluses are expected, but growth will be propelled by funding diversification and the Dirham Monetary Framework implementation,' said Fitch. The Dirham Monetary Framework is a key initiative introduced by the Central Bank of the UAE in 2017 for the purpose of enhancing monetary policy implementation and developing money markets in the Emirates. Fitch added that Malaysia's DCM issuance is likely to slow further as the government maintains efforts to reduce federal debt, while modest growth is expected in Turkiye during the final six months of 2025. 'Debt issuance in the second half of this year will be supported by a lower oil price, particularly for many OPEC members, and further interest rate declines. However, risks persist from US tariffs, geopolitical and capital market volatility, and, for sukuk, Shariah-compliance complexities,' added Fitch. Sukuk dominates DCM in Saudi Arabia The report further said that sukuk made up most of the outstanding DCM in Saudi Arabia at 61.1 percent. In Malaysia, sukuk represented 59.3 percent of outstanding DCM, followed by the UAE at 21.9 percent, Indonesia at 18 percent and Qatar at 17.8 percent. The report further added that environmental, social, and governance sukuk accounted for 41 percent of ESG dollar debt issuance in emerging markets, while the rest were in the form of bonds. 'Sukuk demand outpaced supply, supported by Islamic banks that have adequate liquidity in most markets and that cannot invest in bonds,' the report said. Earlier this month, it was announced that the value of sukuk rated by Fitch Ratings exceeded $210 billion in the first half of 2025, marking a 16 percent increase from a year earlier. At that time, the US-based agency said that 80 percent of its rated sukuk maintain investment-grade status with no recorded defaults, highlighting the relative stability and creditworthiness of issuers despite tightening global financial conditions. In July, another report released by S&P Global said that the global sukuk market is poised to maintain its strength in 2025, with foreign currency-denominated issuances expected to reach between $70 billion and $80 billion.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store