A summer of discontent… but also hope

The aura of disquiet is palpable across the media in the Gulf right now.

Optimism has been replaced by unease, and determination by a sense of exhaustion.

The impact seems to have been disproportionately felt by agencies, who have seen clients disappear, invoices go unpaid, and contracts evaporate.

While corporates are more insulated, furlough and redundancies have still occurred.

And news outlets, which traditionally benefit the most from conflict, have felt the impacts of a decline in ad spend, if not eyeballs.

All this adds up to an industry desperately hoping for some sense of normality come September.

I’m optimistic that people will return – the UAE in particular has worked hard to project an environment of stability and resilience. September’s events such as Arabian Travel Market are now a bellwether of that strategy.

But for now, those that can are taking some R&R, including Roxhill’s roster of writers.

In the meantime, you’ll find five posts from this year below that might make for some light beach reading.

We’ll continue the Media Majlis throughout August with guest posts and journo moves as usual. Back to our normal service on 3^rd September.

As always, my inbox is open: nick.thorpe@roxhillmedia.com

Popular posts you may have missed this year

The Gulf media industry’s summer to-do list
Six things that need to be on every media organisation’s list this summer.

Let the campaign do the talking, not the C-suite 
Why B2B interviews with senior executives need to be retired.

Toxicity is media’s biggest challenge
A look at the normalisation of toxic behaviour across the GCC’s media industry.

Honesty is the best media policy
A journalistic plea for spokespeople to cut the neutrality and be more honest.

The firewall is down
Why the traditional walls between journalists and PRs no longer exist in the Gulf.