Middle East media 'too laid back'

Piers Morgan, former editor of the UK's Daily Mirror newspaper, and a leading media player in the US and UK has called on the media in the UAE to be more competitive and more aggressive in its marketing and its reporting.

Speaking in a keynote address to the Arabian Business Media & Marketing Conference 2007, being held today and tomorrow at the DICC, Morgan said that Dubai presented a great opportunity for the regional media.

"There is a great opportunity in Dubai to create a really vibrant media world. There are a lot of great journalists coming here from [around the world], there is a great feeling of excitement, but it is not that competitive. The media here needs to shake itself up a bit - Dubai is exciting and vibrant, and the media should reflect this - the media in Dubai could set standard for the whole region," Morgan said.

Morgan praised recent actions by HH Sheikh Mohammed to protect and promote the media in Dubai, and said that Dubai's media should take this as a cue to take a more proactive approach to tackle social issues.

"The media here should pick issues that are very relevant to the people who live here - labour force here has made a stand about pay, and they appear to have been successful in that - the media here has a real responsibility to keep pushing these boundaries - not so that the government feels threatened, but that we are all in this together to make Dubai a better place," he commented.

Morgan's keynote on the power of celebrity also included his take on the basic rules that apply to every form of media, and that would be more important to the Dubai media as it enters a more competitive age. He stressed the importance of knowing and understanding the consumer, and of media organizations aggressively promoting themselves using traditional and emerging channels.

"When you have got some readers and you want some more - promote promote, promote," Morgan said. "I don't see that aggressive marketing in dubai, yet every other aspect [of Dubai's development] is full-on aggressive marketing."

"We are in an age where viral marketing is the new game in town. Use the internet, use these channels to promote your product - whatever part of the media business you are in, embrace the internet," he added.

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