ABSTRACT
The investigation reported in this chapter points to significant directions for the preparation of the next generation of media entrepreneurs in Qatar, the Gulf region and beyond. In this chapter, we offer a reimagining of news and media content optimized for mobile and social media platforms. Global industry demand is strong for media content strategically designed for facile, consumer-based, innovative mobile products. Such a framework should stretch across traditional professional boundaries with links throughout journalism, marketing and entertainment.
Traditional media companies around the globe have often struggled to adapt to the changing digital, networked and increasingly mobile media landscape. As hundreds of newspapers and other print news media have gone out of business and many tens of thousands of journalists have been laid off, this study offers possible new directions for adaptation to a changing world. Our results suggest that media enterprises in Qatar and the Gulf region are adapting to the changing media landscape and are developing innovative content strategies designed for mobile media platforms. The extent to which these strategies are successful appears to largely depend on their ability to engage a public that has widely adapted the use of mobile media for their own communications and media experience. While our findings are based on a multimethod investigation in Qatar and the UAE, the evidence suggests that the theoretical implications extend far beyond the region and the profession.
The structure and features of this chapter include a discussion of the likely implications of advances in mobile and wearable media for the ongoing transformation of journalism and media content in Qatar, the Arabian Gulf and the world beyond.
