New Tabloid Newspaper "The Week' may hit Muscat News Stands soon

Arab region acts to break silence on HIV/AIDS

Monday, 4 November 2002: With HIV/AIDS infections increasing in the Arab region, UNDP is joining with all 17 governments in an initiative to break the silence surrounding the epidemic. A recent workshop in Sana'a, Yemen, organized by UNDP brought together national HIV/AIDS programme managers and UNDP staff from every country to promote more pro-active leadership in the campaign against the deadly virus.

"While the Arab region is generally regarded as a low prevalence region, this is no reason for complacency," said Zahir Jamal, programmes chief, UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab States. "The region must ensure that an appropriate level of response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic is in place." A half million adults and children in the region are living with HIV/AIDS, with 80,000 people infected last year, according to UNAIDS. Sexual intercourse is apparently the main mode of transmission in most countries, with significant increases in HIV infection among injecting drug users also reported. In Djibouti and Sudan, political instability, socio-economic disparities, large-scale population mobility have led to widespread epidemics.

A World Bank study on macro-economic impacts of HIV/AIDS in nine countries in the region concludes that GDP losses over the next 25 years could average 35 per cent of today's GDP -- and could go far higher. It urges governments to act now to stem the disease. The workshop encouraged partnerships beyond the government level and recommended a multi-sectoral approach beyond the health sector, reported Monica Sharma, UNDP team leader on HIV/AIDS. "To me this was a breakthrough," she said. Most countries are still responding to the epidemic through the medical and health sector.

Abdel Rahman Tarmoum, Yemen's Vice Minister of Planning, also emphasized the need for a multi-sectoral response. "We have clearly articulated objectives in our national planning frameworks that will guide the government in addressing the HIV/AIDS challenges not only as a health issue, but also within the broad context of a socio-economic development paradigm," he said. A Yemeni living with HIV engaged participants on a personal level, beginning with an account of his diagnosis, which resulted in his deportation from Saudi Arabia where he worked, followed by prejudice and threats when he returned to Yemen. "I was threatened with imprisonment and death," he said. "I was forced to leave my village in the middle of the night because of the fears and misunderstandings of my neighbours."
An advocacy campaign under the regional project is targeting stigma and discrimination, reinforcing the theme of the World AIDS Campaign for 2002-2003, "Live and Let Live." This and other activities will pave the way for the new initiative, which aims to create a regional network of civil society organizations, empower the media to address HIV/AIDS concerns, and explore the impact of immigration on the spread of the epidemic.

"I am confident that the momentum and partnerships generated in Yemen will ensure the successful implementation of our project," said Walid Badawi, UNDP regional programme advisor. Participants agreed on a common vision: "In 2010 HIV/AIDS becomes a new mantra for Arab unity." This entails a new social contract, with high level political commitment, vigorous public debate, adequate public and private funding and a new generation of citizens "able to offer sufferers a caring community." The vision captures key opinion and policy shifts needed to break the silence, heighten the policy focus and financial support needed to combat the epidemic, and eliminate the discrimination associated with it. keralamonitor.com

Gulf Media Monitor

New Tabloid Newspaper "The Week', may hit Muscat News Stand soon

 

Muscat - November 5, 2002 The media scnenario in Oman is all set to witness the launch of a third English tabloid from a leading publishing group, which has already got a successful business magazine to its credit. It is learned that two English newspaper licenses have been sought from the concened ministries - one by a group publishing a business magazine and the second by Al Watan , the most popular and independent Arabic newspaper owned by a business group which has been planning to start an English newspaper. Even though various theories are floating around about the "Nation" newspaper which is planned by the Arabic daily, the latest news is that search is on for a new editor and editorial staff.

The media circles say that both the publishing groups have been engaged in a marathon recruitment drive (outside Oman) to launch the new publication. KM learns that work is fast progressing to the official launch of a new weekly tabloid, which is all likely to be named "The Week". The publishing group is planning a major marketing campaign to distribute the newspaper free of cost and dont be surprised if you find the editor and publisher trying to market the English tabloid standing in special attractive uniforms, targeting the motorists and pedestrians in the busy business centres. The forthcoming tabloid newspaper, the 'Week' will be targeting to survive on advertisement revenue, rather than relying on the small amount that could be collected through pricing the publication. It is likely that initially the paper will be edited by a leading Indian female journalist . The distribution network which is already developed for circulating the business publications will be useful in ensuring smooth circulation. Even if it sells 5,000 copies at the rate of 200 balsas per copy the net circulation revenue would be just RO 1000 - mere peanut compared to the high cost of printing a glossy tabloid newspaper, sayd media experts.

Oman has been gradually liberalising its relatively controlled and conservative print media by allowing new entrants to enhance competition. While the Arabic daily market is dominated by Al Watan, Al Shabiba, Oman and a few other publications, the Oman Daily Observer and the Times of Oman are the two largest circulated English newspapers. Even though the Times of Oman, which is popular among the expatriate population, has come a long way from its beginning as a weekly tabloid newspaper, its Arabic Youth publication Al Shabhibha is now being upgraded to the status of a full fledged Arabic newspaper. Its main competitor, the Oman Daily Observer, the first daily newspaper and market leader in terms of circulation figures, (as is evident from the high advertisement tariff rate) has announced the launch of a bilingual Youth Observer targeting the students and youth who constitute more than 50 per cent of the population. Both the Times and Observer have been adding new sections and columns to attract more readers.

The Times group has started a new weekly publication ' Thursday', which has become very popular among the expatriate community for relaxed weekend reading. Now market sources say the newspaper is getting the largest circulation figure on Thursdays, only because of the new weekly publication. It may be recalled that a few years back, the local English newspapers did not have their editions on Thursday and Friday, the weekly official holidays. Even though the circulation figure is yet to be translated into advertising revenue, the success story of Thursday weekly shows that there is enough scope for good publicatioons.

While Khaleej Times and Gulf News are the two leading regional English newspapers from the UAE popular in the Sultanate, their circulation figures are not very impressive. According to media sources, despite their tall claims to advertisers, both the newspapers might be selling less than a 1,000 copy each in Oman. Both the newspapers are now trying to improve local news coverage by infusing new reporting skills. Apparently fearing new competition from the proposed publications, Gulf News has enhanced its local news coverage and even appointed a new enthusiastic journalist who had previous experience in Oman as its new bureau chief. Now a days the visibility of Oman news is more in Gulf News sometimes even on the front page. The Muscat Bureau of GN has also been improving the coverage of expatriate related human interest stories - an area long neglected by the paper.

Khaleej Times, headed by a well experienced journalist, too is getting ready for the new competition in a small market. However, the paper has been facing some problems due to the lack of an efficient editor after S.Nihal Singh, the veteran Indian journalist left the newspaper. Once popular among the Indian expatriates in the Gulf, KT has been trying to recapture the lost circulation to the Gulf News by coming out with a City supplement in the UAE, edited by Bikram Vohra, former editor of Khaleej Times.

Even the leading Malayalam newspapers like Malayala Manorma, Mathrubhoomi, Gulf Mdhyamam, Chandirka, Deshabhimani etc are selling only less number of copies among the Keralite expatriate community. Some of the Malayalam newspapers are hiring new reporters to enhance news coverage of the Gulf region. Malayala Manorama, the market leader has started a Mumbai edition, which they send by air to various Gulf countries. The group wanted the local distributor to push up circulation upto 25,00 copies per day, which was found to be a difficult task for the distribution company. Even part of the the two thousand copies brought to Oman every day was coming back from the market as rejects. Gulf Madhyamam too has got its share of the Malayalam readership and its enhanced local news coverage is attracting new readers. However, it is competing with Mathrubhoomi to reach the Manorama's circulation level in Oman. The reading habit is said to be very poor even among the educated sections of Indian expatriates. Due to small population size there are sceptics who raise serious question marks about the financial viability of the third and fourth English newspaper in a crowded market place. Due to increased localisation of the workforce, large number of English reading expatriates are leaving the country, posing new challenge to newspapers targeting expatriate community.

The media market in the tiny Gulf state witnessed a few new entrants in the last couple of years. The new publications that entered the market included the Oman Economic Review, a well researched and professionally managed business magazine with a serious look. Business Today, another business magazine, with some light business stories and business news, is another business publication that entered the market. Both the new publications have been apparently successful due to sufficient advertisement support.

A lot of business magazines from other Gulf countries like the Middle East Economic Digest, Gulf Business, Money Works etc are also available on the news stands. However, the local business coverage is missing in the business publications coming from Dubai and other Gulf capitals. The Commerce, a bilingual English-Arabic publication from a local publisher is popular among the business community, not because of the seriousness of the articles published, but because of the coverage of local business events with colour photographs of business leaders. The Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Central Bank of Oman and other government wings too come out with their own in-house journals. Many of the business publications are thriving on advertorial content - public relations stuff adorned with six column photographs of business executives and decision makers who support these publications with liberal advertisement policy.

The Sultan Qaboos University, the only University in Oman, has a four year bachelors course in journalism. However, the focus has been on the Arabic media in which a number of SQU graduates are doing well. A number of Omani graduate journalists are being trained abroad for the English media. Both the leading English Dailies are edited by well known Arab journalists - compared to Dubai, Doha and Manama Newspapers which are headed by expatriate editors. There are some efficient Arab female reporters in both the English dailies. However, as in other Gulf countries, there is still a shortage of locally trained manpower to handle the new publication indepdently. Therefore, some of the local business publications and even the prestigious Magazines get their news copies edited, cover pages designed and bring out their magazines in proper shape with the help of overseas subcontractors and consultants in New Delhi and Mumbai.

Some of the proposed English publications may survive in a tough market place. But one thing is sure - the media scene is getting ready for a new phase of healthy competition among the established market players and new entrants. Will such a competition benefit the readers in terms of better news stories and reports is the billion dollar question. Our best wishes for the 'Week' and 'Nation' -keralamonitor.com.