Readers of Al Ittihad newspaper will notice the paper’s blue logo has been replaced with the original red to mark its 45th anniversary.
But that is not the only change that Al Ittihad, the sister paper of The National and owned by Abu Dhabi Media, has embarked upon as it looks to overcome the challenges facing the print media industry in the region.
“We did a study of the market, the wants and habits of our readers and developed the newspaper,” said Mohamed Al Hammadi, the editor in chief of Al Ittihad and executive director of publishing at Abu Dhabi Media. “Al Ittihad is very strong. We have a strong readership, but we think the readers have changed so we have to meet their expectations. We have changed the layout and are using fewer words and more pictures. The font of the writing is also new.”
The main challenge was to develop the right content and strengthen the link between print and online, said Mr Al Hammadi. The newspaper is now incorporating QR codes into its stories. Users can scan the codes with their smartphones. That will direct them to the paper’s website, where they will have access to more information, pictures, videos and graphics.
“It will not be just a copy of the news story from the newspaper,” said Mr Al Hammadi. “There will be more news and details on the story. The newspaper will provide the solid details and the website will provide more.”
Al Ittihad is also planning to upgrade its website and launch new applications within the next couple of months.
The paper has also ramped up its lifestyle and sports offerings and hired more multimedia journalists as the newsroom works to become entirely paperless.
“We now have a smart newsroom – this is the first of its kind in the region. We want to become the reader’s first source for the news,” said Mr Al Hammadi.
The smart newsroom monitors all news 17 hours a day and gathers this data to send to its journalists.
As of December last year, PwC Middle East estimated that US$5.54 billion was spent on newspaper advertisements, or 29 per cent of overall advertising spending across the Middle East and North Africa.
Print advertising is set for a compounded decline rate of 8.3 per cent from this year to 2018 across the region.
“We’re in a substantial transition,” said Philip Shepherd, a partner at PwC. “Other mature markets have gone through this decline earlier and faster. We think a lot of this decline is at its apex.”
In the UAE, newspaper advertising in both print and digital is set to decline from this year to 2018 at a compound rate of 2.6 per cent. The market is currently worth $325 milliion, according to PwC.
“The drop in advertising in the region is not as bad as the rest of the world,” said Jawad Abbasi, the chief executive at Arab Advisors. “We have a peculiar situation where TV is regional, and if you want local advertising for specific cities, sometimes print is the best way to go.”
But newspapers will have to adapt to the online world.
“The trends are there. There is an increase in mobile use, broadband and online advertising is growing. The best way for all these content creators is to raise their brand awareness and have online offerings and channels,” said Mr Abbassi.
thamid@thenational.ae
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