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UAE MEDIA AND CULTURE |
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600 North Bridge Road, #09-01, Parkview Square, Singapore 188778, Tel: +65 6238 8206 Fax: +65 6238 0081 Email |
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THE MEDIA AND CULTURE SECTORS ARE UNDERGOING a period of reorganisation, revitalisation and renaissance in the UAE, with particular emphasis on investment in world-class resources, introducing international best practices into all areas of activity, stimulating and encouraging local participation, and at the same time forging bridges between East and West. In particular, the Abu Dhabi 2030 vision seeks to establish the emirate as a regional centre for culture with a global capital city as its hub. National Media Council (NMC) Following a period of government restructuring in 2006, the National Media Council (NMC) was established to oversee media development in the UAE and to support media initiatives. All jurisdictions and responsibilities concerning media affairs that previously fell under the dissolved Ministry of Information and Culture were transferred to the NMC. In particular, the core media bodies of the old ministry, in the form of the Press and Publications Department, the External Information Department and the Emirates News Agency (WAM), are now under the authority of the NMC. Emirates News Agency (WAM or Wakalat Anba'a al-Emarat) began operations in 1976. Since mid-2006 it has been under the authority of the National Media Council. The agency transmits news on national, regional and Arab affairs and is a widely respected source for international media. WAM is a member of the Group of Arab Gulf Cooperation Council news agencies, the Federation of Arab News Agencies (FANA), the Islamic News Agencies Union, the Pool of Non-Aligned News Agencies and the Organisation of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA). Its headquarters is in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, with other offices in Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain, Ra's al-Khaimah, Fujairah, Al Ain and Madinat Zayed. WAM maintains a teamof around 25 reporters outside the UAE, with offices in the Arab cities of Cairo, Beirut, Rabat, Riyadh, Damascus, Sanaa, Algiers, Jerusalem, Gaza, Khartoum, Amman, Baghdad and Tunis. Other offices and reporters are located in London, Paris, Brussels, Geneva, Moscow, Washington, New York, Tehran, Islamabad, New Delhi, Istanbul and Canberra. The agency also operates a website (www.wam.ae) with services in both Arabic and English. UAE Interact supported by the National Media Council, has been in continuous operation for 13 years and was one of the first Internet sites to carry daily news stories on the UAE. All items posted to the website are categorised by subject area and archived, with the result that the site contains a substantial database of searchable articles on the UAE going back as far as 1997. The site presents news and information in eleven languages, Arabic, English, Russian, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Spanish, French, German, Italian and Portuguese. All sections are updated regularly and they contain a wide range of comprehensive information on the country, together with popular films and other downloadable resources such as digital files of the UAE Yearbook. UAE Interact is consistently listed by Google as one of the top websites on the UAE. PRINT MEDIA The UAE is the regional centre of the print, publishing and advertising industries, with a growth rate of 15 to 20 per cent expected year on year. |
