CNN focuses on social media with Arabic website relaunch

CNN has relaunched its Arabic website with a focus on social media to attract more followers.
The revamp is the first major design overhaul for the website in the past 12 years. The company doubled its staff last year to help build the new website and if audiences respond positively, it will invest further in hiring local talent to drive growth.
"There is a need to make news more social. More news is shared on social networks than anything else," said Peter Bale, the vice-president and general manager of CNN Digital International. "The Middle East is one of the fastest growing mobile internet markets and the ideal place for a site built around evolving news consumption habits."
Traffic to the website has risen 70 per cent over the past year. According to Mr Bale, Twitter is the biggest source of traffic to its Arabic-language website. Most of the visitors are from Saudi Arabia and Egypt, with the UAE and US following closely behind.
"Our traffic from social media has doubled [over the past year] and traffic from mobile devices is up 200 per cent in the past 12 months," said Mr Bale.
About 30 per cent of total readership currently access the CNN website via mobile phones and tablets and Mr Bale expects that to reach about 50 per cent by the middle of this year, bringing it in line with its worldwide website.
CNN is one of a few global media players looking to boost its presence in the Middle East and among Arabic speakers.
Local news portals have also shifted their focus to online, as more readers access the news digitally.
A report from consultancy Booz estimates that 70 per cent of Arabic users choose to read the news online rather than in print.
News websites are increasingly under pressure to innovate and stay relevant to audiences who are now accessing stories through social media websites like Facebook and Twitter.
Saudi Arabia's Al Arabiya News Channel recently relaunched its website with a new look and a subtitling service on its English-language website to enable English-speaking audiences to follow its Arabic videos and news bulletins.
CNN's new website has the same newsfeed layout as Facebook, an intentional feature to make it "familiar" for readers, said Mr Bale.
"The site is very visual . because readers told us they need to see more pictures and the navigation of the website to be easier. There is a large amount of photos and videos and the photo gallery has taken a bigger chunk online," said Caroline Faraj, the CNN Arabic digital services director.
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