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Fiona Wilson is accustomed to breaking news and breaking new ground. She was the first female cameraperson at UK-based HTV and now she is director of news at City 7, the first independent English-language TV station in Dubai. Although this is the case now, Wilson and City 7 by no means assume that theirs will always be a one-horse race.

"Sooner or later somebody will open another English language channel," explains Wilson. "At the moment, we don't have any competition. Someone else will come in though and Dubai being Dubai, it will happen very quickly and once one comes in, we'll get another and another."

Wilson sees the current period as an opportunity for City 7 to establish itself in the market and prepare its young staff base for the additional pressures that competition will bring.

"One thing that disappointed me when I first came to Dubai was that the passion was not here. In the UK and other developed markets, there's always someone better than you ready to come along and replace you. That passion to keep moving forward and adapting is necessary just to stay in your job.

"When I came into City 7 people really were only doing one role so I've tried to encourage someone who is reporting, to do some presenting as well and vice versa", she says.

"I've had people come to me and say ‘while I've been away doing my own work, I've also learnt how to edit'. This is video journalism evolving in Dubai."

A video journalist is defined as somebody who sources, shoots, edits and often presents their own stories. In mature markets, many established journalists have had to expand their skills base to achieve this status. Most entrants to the world of broadcast journalism are now expected to possess this basket of skills from the off. The Middle East has the opportunity to establish this as standard from the beginning, gaining a real head start developmentally, according to Wilson.

As well as creating a more flexible workforce, performing many different roles also allows people to understand more about what their colleagues' requirements are, she claims.

"It is very helpful to know how to produce, how to present and how to edit. I feel the people who are the best producers are the ones that have also presented because they know what it takes to present. Having worked as a cameraperson, I know exactly what problems our camera operators face and what they need from the presenters in order to work more efficiently and to a higher standard."

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