The Arab Media Forum is an annual conference held in Dubai that brings the region’s media community, along with the international ones to integrate and that brings in discussion points that celebrate, dissect and look out for the prospects of the Arab media.

Journalists, editors, content creators, data analysts- basically anyone that has to do with media have been flocking to this event for years.

We got to sit down with the key figures in today’s media to learn about their perspective on digital trends, the Middle East’s prominence in modern-day press and more.

Image Credits: Instagram @iiasomz

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‘The Copyright Directive has gained votes that could mean Facebook will have to remunerate news publishers for the content they put on their feed.’

The statement above is something that is now gaining consideration, following the global realisation the value of online news-telling, at least according to the CEO of international news agency Agency France-Presse (AFP), Fabrice Fries.

AFP is an international news agency, based in Paris, that dates back to 1835- and is considered one of the world’s oldest news agencies. Its purpose is to organise and collect news items: photographic, video and data content and distribute it to publishers like newspapers, broadcasters and now, digital publishers too.

It is the third-most-successful news agency in the world, followed by the Associated Press and Reuters.

The European Union is leading charge in the tech anti-trust policy

Fries made mention of the recent historic vote that was made at the European parliament in regards to ‘The Copyright Directive’- hoping to protect the integrity of news publishers in today’s digital platforms.

What this directive basically means is that sources like Apple News, Google News and Facebook will soon have to pay publishers for content shared on their feed.

This could be a monumental step for traditional publishers struggling to meet the demands of the digitally-savvy culture today.

“This is the first time that a content is going to enforce for the said platforms to pay for the content, which will alleviate the hardships of news agencies who are struggling to maintain the quality of paying for information.

Who else you’ll hear on this episode:

• Fabrice Fries, Chairman & CEO of Agence France-Presse

• Tini Sevak, Vice president, audiences and data CNN
• Dr. Fawaz George, Professor of International Business Relations, London School of Economics & Political Science
• Daniel Funke, Fact Checking Reporter – The Poynter institute
• Amjad Taha, Regional head for the British Middle East Research Center

Listen to the full podcast below!

This Dubai Works full episode is available on SoundCloud, iTunes and Anghami.