Content creators praise "Dubai Budvest" and confirm:

The voice of the Arabic “podcast” is getting louder...and continuity is the biggest challenge

• The second session of "Dubai Podvest" brought together the most prominent Arab podcast makers.

  Photography: Ashok Verma

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The content makers agreed that the Arabic “podcast” is witnessing a great boom and remarkable spread, as it achieves growth and attraction to listeners, especially young people, with what “audio blogging” deals with issues that concern this group in particular, recognizing at the same time that the path to the call to prayer is not easy, In a world dominated by the image greatly.

They assured Emirates Today that continuity is the most important challenge facing this type of new media, along with many other things, including providing attractive content that is unique.

The Saudi, Ammar Al-Sabban, started in this world in 2015, through “Mustafir”, which is characterized by being a spontaneous talk show, dealing with light topics from daily life.

He agreed that the biggest challenge of the “podcast” is continuity, as every week there must be a different topic and new stories, in addition to funding, and that is why he presented programs with a small production cost.

And he believed that the absence of the image may affect marketing, but not listening to the episodes, pointing out that «the audio blogging industry does not require many tools, so it is possible to record from a mobile phone if it is qualified to present a clear voice, but the greatest burden is to provide content that makes people happy, The creator of the content must be himself.

And he considered that what distinguishes what they present is the special identity, in addition to relying on ordinary guests, not celebrities, because the main concern is to express the largest segment of the audience and listeners.

For his part, Munther Al-Mazki Al-Shamsi expressed his admiration for the role Dubai plays in the field of media, its development and support, through the Arab Media Forum, as well as the "Dubai Budvest" forum, the first event of its kind in the region concerned with this sector, which was organized the day before yesterday in Dubai. Pointing out that it can be said that "Dubai listens", giving hearing great importance in the media content. Hearing means exchanging experiences and benefiting from them and drawing future policies, by getting acquainted with the thought of youth, as he put it.

Al Shamsi added that "it can be greatly benefited, especially during times of travel and driving a vehicle, as listening provides more information than the image," stressing that "good content is the most important, and those who call for the need for the sound to be beautiful in order for the (podcast) to succeed are wrong."

beginning

While Dr. Ali Al-Hammour said about his start with the world of “podcasts”: “I have been following programs for audio blogging in the recent period, and I have noticed the weakness of production, especially that which is presented in Arabic, although it is more developed in Saudi Arabia, and therefore I started in the field of health, and moved to the fields of Others are non-scientific, and therefore I have come to receive guests from a variety of fields and present their interests in the field of fitness and health.

He indicated that at first he thought of presenting the episodes on his own, but with time and after receiving the guests, it became easy to bring the guests, as they are identified through a series of successive relationships.

He stressed that continuity is the biggest challenge in the world of "podcasts", especially since its production is very easy, and episodes can be recorded, for example, at home, and guests can be interviewed through applications that facilitated remote interviews.

"she became with me"

And through “She became with me,” the journalist, Maha Fatoum, started with the “podcast” on the “Radio Now” broadcast.

She said, "The program was one of the first programs to start podcasting at her workplace, and she was initially afraid of the novelty of this type of media work, but it attracted her to continue since the first episode, to reach today more than 140 episodes."

And she stressed that continuity is one of the biggest challenges of this type of media, which also needs a plan and methodology in work and defining the goal of podcasting, noting that there is a difference between individual or media work within an institution, as the first gives one more freedom in selecting topics and choosing guests, With a commitment to respect the mind of the listener and the ethics of the profession.

Regarding the image's support for the podcast, Fattoum saw that "the tyranny of the image in our time may lead some to resort to listening, with reference to the possibility of benefiting from social media platforms by promoting audio episodes through a short video."

Qafir from Oman

For his part, Omani Salem Bashir, founder of the "Qaf" production network, and presenter of "Qafir", which deals with the stories of the Sultanate, said that awareness of the importance of podcasting is the main challenge, indicating that the voice of "podcasts" has begun to rise in the Arab world, so that the other challenge remains in The issue of realizing the value of audio blogging, as he distinguished between what is presented on social media platforms, and blogs that carry distinctive content.

He confirmed that there are listeners and fans of this type of blogging, especially since many spend hours in the car, and it is important to invest this time in listening, as podcasts are now competing with radio.

He stressed the importance of establishing partnerships between podcast makers, so that the listener is the biggest beneficiary.

Media integration

The Director of the Dubai Press Club, Dr. Maitha Buhumaid, said about the second session of "Dubai Vodcast", which was organized at the Dubai Press Club headquarters, that it "focused on workshops that help media professionals who wish to present (podcasts)", explaining that "the special agenda In the second session, it was distinguished by diversity, and presented standards for issuing meaningful Arabic content, which guarantees continuity.

She indicated that there is competition between sound and image, and in the world of "podcasts", sound remains the basis, and therefore the listener's mentality must be respected and the importance of providing correct and accurate information in a quick time, and in this way it can be attracted.

And she praised the role that the New Media Academy in Dubai is working on, and what it offers to media students, which serves the media industry in the Arab countries.

• The road to the ears is not easy, in light of a world dominated by the image to a large extent.

• Audio blogging is witnessing a great boom and remarkable spread, as it achieves growth and attraction to listeners.

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