The business of newspapers is changing, and they will have to focus more on regional, community based content with a niche audience. This means more targeted and specialized editorial. This is the opinion of Mr Rahul Sharma, editor of Khaleej Times, who addressed Middlesex Media students on Wednesday 18 November.

He emphasized that newspapers would change, not vanish, and that online newspapers were one such example.

“The shift in role from journalist to editor involves changing one’s focus towards business,” he said in response to a student’s question. He went on to explain that media was a business and that the bottom line was important. As editor his focus had shifted to the business aspect of the profession and he explained that the three major English-language newspapers in the UAE were battling for a slice of “a small advertising pie”. Consumers in the region required gifts, and newspapers were not immune to this. He explained that local consumers generally did not buy newspapers on a daily or monthly basis, but mostly took out annual subscriptions.

“Journalists by nature are lone wolves,” he went on to say. On the other hand, editors were all about managing people, costs, and interacting with marketing, advertising and sales functions of the newspaper. They were also the public face of the newspaper, and he mentioned his visit to Middlesex as an example. In addition, editors still were required to write.

He reminded students that, “Journalists are as good as their last story, so have to keep honing their craft.”

Rahul has a long history in journalism, including a 14-year stint at Reuters. He joined Khaleej Times at the time of the redesigning of the newspaper. He explained that redesigning in an ideal situation should take 12 to 18 months, but Khaleej Times did it in just over 40 days to meet deadlines. The initial reaction of longtime readers was not promising, but it settled later. “Whenever magazines and newspapers redesign, readership plummets,” he said.

Students were interested to hear about the reality of an industry that they had studied on a theoretical level and many felt that they had learned a lot about the newspaper industry in the UAE. Rahul’s comment, “No media is truly free,” caused some debate among students, a debate which will, no doubt continue well into the future.

The Dubai campus of Middlesex University London, which opened in January 2005, has more than 1,300 students from over 60 nationalities and offers 25 undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in a wide variety of subject areas. The origins of Middlesex University in London date back to 1878 and it is one of only a handful UK universities to have been awarded three Queen’s anniversary prizes. In 2007, Middlesex was ranked third in London for Teaching and Learning (HEFCE) and the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) rated research at Middlesex as ‘Top 10 among new UK universities’. In 2009, the university received again the highest possible rating for its quality as assessed by the UK’s Quality Assurance Agency (QAA). Furthermore, all programmes are approved by the Dubai Knowledge and Human Development Authority.

Education and Culture
business of newspapers, Middlesex Media, online newspapers, students