Decisive Leadership in an Increasingly Complex Media Landscape
The second edition of the Global Media Congress in Abu Dhabi, hosted by the Emirates News Agency (WAM) and ADNEC Group, attracted over 23,000 media professionals, experts, specialists, and visitors. This unique event witnessed the participation of 257 media brands and representation from 172 different countries, making it a truly global gathering in the media industry.
A number of crucial themes emerged across the three days of the 2023 Global Media Congress. What is the place for artificial intelligence, not least generative AI, in our industry, and how has this impacted our ongoing fight against disinformation? How are media brands understanding audiences through data, especially younger generations with fast-evolving preferences? Has sports journalism transformed beyond recognition, and for the better? And, following a successful COP28 in the UAE, how has the role of environmental journalism evolved, and what responsibility does the media have in the collective fight against climate change?
Fundamentally, in an increasingly complex and diverse global media landscape, this White Paper identifies a pressing need for decisive leadership – both within individual media brands but also at a cross-sector level. Such leadership must be brave and ambitious, prepared to embrace new technologies and ensure the media industry keeps up with the pace of innovation. Decisive leadership also entails tackling complex issues such as the state of the environment head-on, strenuously ensuring credibility and objectivity whilst also affording audiences agency in how to tackle and understand these issues.
This White Paper explores eight perspectives on these key issues, based on the anonymised contributions and insights of hundreds of participants at last year’s Global Media Congress. It also offers four expert insights from leading thinkers on these subjects, which are published here with the authors’ permission in full.
Building resilient media organisations in the age of disinformation
Over three days in November 2022, nearly 14,000 media professionals, experts, specialists, and visitors came together at the inaugural Global Media Congress in Abu Dhabi, hosted by the Emirates News Agency (WAM) and ADNEC Group. With 193 media brands involved and more than 140 different countries represented, it was a rare and truly global gathering of the media industry.
Across dozens of panel events, keynote speeches, interactive workshops, future labs, and debates, participants discussed how they can work together to shape the future of the media industry. A number of key themes emerged, not least the rise of artificial intelligence, the impact of disruptive new technologies, the demands of Gen Z consumers, and the role of the burgeoning metaverse. These are analysed at various points in this White Paper.
This White Paper presents eight different perspectives on these fundamental questions around news organisations’ resilience in the age of disinformation. These perspectives are based on the anonymised contributions and insights of dozens of participants at last year’s Global Media Congress. Many of these individuals – who include newsroom editors, veteran correspondents, CEOs of global news organisations, academics specialising in the field of news media, futurists, and many more – have been generous enough to expand on their verbal contributions through written submissions. Four of these expert insights are published with the authors’ permission in full in this White Paper.
