CNN International Commercial exec discusses launch of ad-supported streaming channels, says ‘trusted, verifiable and accurate reporting’ is now more important than ever
CNN International Commercial exec discusses launch of ad-supported streaming channels, says ‘trusted, verifiable and accurate reporting’ is now more important than ever/node/2588518/media
CNN International Commercial exec discusses launch of ad-supported streaming channels, says ‘trusted, verifiable and accurate reporting’ is now more important than ever
New channels include CNN Fast, which is already available, and an upcoming kids’ FAST channel launching later in 2025. (Supplied)
CNN International Commercial exec discusses launch of ad-supported streaming channels, says ‘trusted, verifiable and accurate reporting’ is now more important than ever
CNN Fast features short-form videos covering a range of topics
Dedicated kids’ channel to launch later in 2025
Updated 01 February 2025
Zaira Lakhpatwala
DUBAI: Late last year, Warner Bros. Discovery extended its partnership with Evision, the media and entertainment arm of e&.
The extended agreement provides users access to seven new channels including Fatafeat, Discovery Channel, TLC, HGTV, Food Network, Investigation Discovery, and Discovery Family.
It also includes two new free ad-supported streaming TV, or FAST, channels on Evision’s streaming platform, STARZ ON: CNN Fast, which is already available, and an upcoming kids’ FAST channel launching later in 2025.
“This partnership highlights a shared commitment to delivering diverse, high-quality content to audiences in the region,” Humphrey Black, vice-president of Distribution, CNN International Commercial, told Arab News.
CNN Fast features short-form videos covering international stories across major news events, business, entertainment, sport, tech, travel and the environment. It first launched in Europe in 2023, followed by Canada and New Zealand.
These countries are “where the main FAST channel platforms have been building audiences,” and now “these platforms are starting to get traction in MENA (Middle East and North Africa), and the growth of FAST channels will naturally follow,” Black said.
“With a younger population in the region who really engage with video content, it’s a natural fit, and this succinct format will keep viewers informed and engaged,” he added.
The second FAST channel is dedicated to kids’ content and will feature classics from Warner Bros. Discovery’s content library.
Explaining the reason behind a FAST channel dedicated to kids, Black said: “There is a high demand for children’s content across traditional TV channels, streaming platforms, as well as YouTube, where kids’ channels consistently dominate viewership globally.
“With that in mind, we want to reach and entertain kids through our most loved characters.”
Moreover, he added, cross-platform viewing continues to grow, meaning that viewers consume and access content across multiple devices.
Children in the MENA region own at least one device allowing Warner Bros. Discovery to “meet our young audiences wherever they are and engage with them across the various platforms and devices,” he added.
In recent years, streaming platforms that rose to popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic have increased their subscription rates. In a full circle moment, some have even introduced ads on lower-priced subscription tiers reminiscent of the days of traditional TV.
This, along with the sheer number of platforms users might need to subscribe to, has given rise to FAST channels.
Black explained: “The first streamers focused on subscribers for their business models, but now we’re seeing ad-supported services coming back into favor as this offers customers the option to lower or replace subscription fees in return for consuming advertising, thus making the content available to an even wider group of potential customers.”
Between 2022 and 2023, in the US alone, the number of FAST channels increased by 81 percent, according to a whitepaper by Whip Media.
In the MENA region, several broadcasters introduced FAST channels last year including Indian media conglomerate Viacom18’s DesiPlay TV and DAZN Group’s Dazn Combat, both of which are available on STARZ ON.
Although FAST platforms generally tend to feature lifestyle or entertainment content, they are “increasingly featuring news channels in their propositions as these are seeing strong uptake amongst audiences,” said Black.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s launch of the two FAST channels is part of its strategy to continue digitizing its content and reaching people on the platforms they use most.
In addition to reporting news, CNN’s “brand promise” is to make its content “available on a device or platform of your choosing,” Black said.
He stressed the importance of “trusted, verifiable and accurate reporting” at a time of decreased regulation and increased instances of deep-fakes, AI-generated content and misinformation.
Black added: “A focus on video and innovative products in compelling formats and experiences is central to CNN’s digital transformation and reflects the way we are adapting production, distribution and monetization models in line with the changing nature of consumers’ media habits and consumption of news.”
BBC’s critics say removal of documentary reflects pro-Israel biased coverage since the war’s onset
Academics and media professionals warn that censorship amplifies Palestinian dehumanization
Updated 28 February 2025
Sherouk Zakaria
DUBAI: The BBC’s decision to remove its documentary on Gaza has reignited public debate over the broadcaster’s pro-Israel bias in its coverage of the latest war and sparked concerns over the influence of the pro-Israel lobby on western media’s impartiality.
Last week, the broadcaster faced backlash from pro-Israel advocates, prominent Jewish media figures, and Israeli representatives in the UK government when it emerged that Abdullah Al-Yazouri, the 14-year-old main narrator in the BBC Two documentary, “Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone,” was the son of Ayman Al-Yazouri, a deputy agriculture minister who worked for the Hamas-run government.
After withdrawing the documentary from its iPlayer service, the BBC was once again criticized by academics, public figures and TV personalities who argued that the channel should have maintained its journalistic impartiality and independence.
The channel’s critics said the removal of the documentary, which provides the rare perspective of a child on the devastating consequences of the war on Gaza, reflected the BBC’s pro-Israel biased coverage since the war began, further deepening the dehumanization of Palestinians and marginalizing their voices.
“The BBC should not have succumbed to pressure from pro-Israeli groups and the British government, who should not have intervened,” Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab British Understanding, told Arab News.
“What is extraordinary is the vast gap between how this documentary was maliciously depicted as being Hamas propaganda and the reality of the film itself, which is a child’s eye view of life in war-torn Gaza that does not get into politics but is a very human story of how Palestinian children survived day-to-day,” noted Doyle.
Palestinian children play amidst the rubble in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip. (File/AFP)
The documentary, filmed over nine months in the run-up to January’s ceasefire deal, features three children among the main characters navigating their lives amid bombings and vast destruction caused by the war on Gaza.
The boy’s family connection with the Hamas-run government employee drew the interference of UK Secretary of Culture Lisa Nandy, who said she expressed “deep concerns” during a meeting with the BBC’s Director-General Tim Davie and urged the channel to report “what happened and who knew what when.”
After conducting an investigation, the BBC issued an apology on Thursday for “serious flaws” in the making of the documentary.
It said it has “no plans” to broadcast it again in its current form, despite the pleas of 500 media professionals and filmmakers, including Gary Lineker and Juliet Stevenson, for the channel to reinstate the documentary, calling it an “essential piece of journalism” that “amplifies voices so often silenced.”
Warning of “racist assumptions,” they said: “Weaponizing family associations to discredit a child’s testimony is both unethical and dangerous.”
Doyle urged the BBC to review its decision “in a very independent fashion free from external interference.”
He said the broadcaster’s action renders work that “humanizes Palestinians and treats Palestinian children as human beings with rights with aspirations, with hopes, with fears” as “illegitimate.”
It also endorses a dominant narrative that militarizes Palestinians and associates them with armed groups, according to the BBC’s critics.
Loreley Hahn-Herrera, lecturer in global media and digital cultures at SOAS University of London, said condemning the documentary as influenced by Hamas does not consider that anyone who works in the government is not necessarily a member of its armed wing.
Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization in the UK, US and Europe.
“Ayman Al-Yazouri is a mid-level bureaucrat who was educated in the UK. I don’t think it is fair to make children guilty by association, which further feeds into the narrative of linking all Palestinians in Gaza to Hamas and criminalizing Palestinian men and stripping them away from their civilian status,” Hahn-Herrera told Arab News.
The first five minutes of the documentary depict Palestinians condemning Hamas and its late leader Yahya Sinwar as they run away from the bombings.
Men and children ride in the back of a tricycle cart along the Wadi Gaza bridge along al-Rashid street across between Gaza City and Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip. (File/AFP)
“The documentary shows kids traumatized by war and actively denouncing Hamas. This challenges the ongoing discourse coming from within Israel and its supporters in the West that associates everyone in Gaza with Hamas and, therefore, makes them targeted terrorists,” Hahn-Herrera said.
She added: “Of the very few political statements that were made throughout the documentary, they were all against Hamas.”
More seriously, Hahn-Herrera noted, the BBC succumbing to pro-Israeli pressure interferes with its credibility as the independent institution it claims to be and challenges its notion of autonomy from the government, which it wants the public to believe.
When reached out to by Arab News for comment, a BBC spokesperson pointed to the channel’s Friday statement indicating that an investigation is ongoing.
The BBC, among other Western outlets, has been facing growing accusations of predominantly featuring Israeli spokespeople and allies over Palestinian voices in its Gaza war coverage.
But the debate over the dominance of Israeli narratives in Western media during conflicts with the Palestinians is not new.
A 2011 groundbreaking study by Greg Philo and Mike Berry titled “More Bad News from Israel” showcased how the BBC’s editorial team faced constant pressure and scrutiny when reporting on Israel and Palestine, making it difficult to give a clear account of the Palestinian perspective.
“The pressures of organized public relations, lobbying and systematic criticism together with the privileging of Israeli perspectives by political and public figures, can affect the climate within which journalists operate,” the authors said.
Displaced Palestinians return to war-devastated Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, shortly before ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was implemented. (File/AFP)
In November, The Independent reported that more than 100 BBC employees, in a letter to Davie and CEO Deborah Turness, accused the channel of reproducing and failing to challenge the narratives of Israeli officials that have “systematically dehumanized Palestinians,” while sidelining the Palestinian perspective and failing to contextualize the war within the broader history of 76-year occupation and a tight 18-year Gaza blockade.
Among the concerns noted by staff were “dehumanizing and misleading headlines” that erased Israel’s responsibility, such as “Hind Rajab, 6, found dead in Gaza days after phone calls for help,” given to an article about a 6-year-old girl who was shot by the Israeli military in Gaza in January 2024.
Other concerns included omissions of coverage, such as the failure to live broadcast South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice on Jan. 11 but choosing to live broadcast Israel’s defense the following day.
The Independent’s report was followed a month later by an article titled, “The BBC’s Civil War on Gaza,” published on Drop Site, an investigative news platform, featuring 13 BBC journalists who claimed that their objections over the biased coverage were brushed aside.
The 9,000-word article cited an analysis that revealed a “profound imbalance” in the channel’s way of reporting Palestinian and Israeli deaths, arguing that Israeli victims were more humanized.
It also detailed accounts of bias including the use of stronger terms like “massacre,” “slaughter” or “atrocities” when describing Hamas’ crimes while failing to use the same terms to describe Israel’s crackdown on Gaza that killed over 46,000 people, the majority of whom were women and children.
The BBC, at the time, denied allegations of bias and defended its coverage, insisting it “strives to live up to our responsibility to deliver the most trusted and impartial news.”
A BBC spokesperson said at the time: “We are very clear with our audiences on the limitations put on our reporting — including the lack of access into Gaza and restricted access to parts of Lebanon, and our continued efforts to get reporters into those areas.”
Children play in the rubble of a destroyed building in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip amid the ongoing truce between Israel and Hamas. (File/AFP)
Ample academic research has analyzed coverage of previous Palestine-Israel wars, the majority of which revealed a disproportionate emphasis on Israeli perspectives while downplaying Palestinian suffering.
If anything, Hahn-Herrera said, the BBC’s recent documentary shared a rare perspective with Western audiences that humanized the suffering of Palestinian children.
“It shows that Palestinians even under occupation, even under constant military attacks, want to have a normal life. It demonstrated that despite all the difficulties and the challenges that Palestinians are facing, they are a resourceful population, and they continue to try to live in normalcy as much as possible,” she said.
Beyond dance trends: TikTok’s regional chief on promoting STEM education in Saudi Arabia
‘We aim to inspire the next generation of Saudi thinkers, innovators, and problem-solvers’ Kinda Ibrahim tells Arab News
Updated 28 February 2025
GABRIELE MALVISI
LONDON: TikTok is often associated with viral trends and entertainment, but the platform is also fostering the next generation of talent, its regional operations chief told Arab News.
In an exclusive interview with the newspaper, Kinda Ibrahim, regional general manager of operations at TikTok Middle East, Turkiye, Africa, Pakistan, Central and South Asia, said the launch of the platform’s STEM Feed initiative in Saudi Arabia was a response to a growing demand for educational content in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
“STEM-related communities on TikTok have proven to be a massive success, with almost 10 million STEM-themed videos published worldwide in the last three years,” Ibrahim said. “The idea behind launching the TikTok STEM Feed in KSA was inspired by noticing the growing need for such content from our community.”
Saudi Arabia became the first country in the MENA region to introduce the feature in December, providing a dedicated space for Arabic-language content focused on “future-critical fields.”
Ibrahim said: “We aim to inspire the next generation of Saudi thinkers, innovators, and problem-solvers by fostering deeper engagement in STEM fields, sparking curiosity, igniting passion for discovery, and encouraging critical thinking, creativity, and lifelong learning.”
Having previously held leadership roles at Twitter and MSN Arabia, Ibrahim has spent her career exploring how digital platforms shape engagement with both entertainment and educational content.
The STEM Feed functions as an optional content stream on TikTok, highlighting videos from trusted creators, educators, and STEM enthusiasts. These include figures like Abdullah Al-Alawi, a Saudi dentist who shares health-related content in a fun and lighthearted manner, and @qadrat_rawan (Rawan’s Abilities), an educational platform with over 400,000 followers and 4.2 million likes.
The content is “regionally optimized” and reviewed for accuracy and credibility in collaboration with local partners such as Majarra, a provider of Arabic-language educational content. TikTok has also partnered with Common Sense Networks and the Poynter Institute to verify the reliability of STEM-related material.
“To maintain the quality and integrity of the STEM feed, all STEM content is carefully reviewed by our teams or in collaboration with Common Sense Networks and Poynter,” Ibrahim said. “Leveraging the partnership with these organizations will ensure that all STEM content is thoroughly vetted for appropriateness and accuracy.”
Since its global rollout three years ago, the STEM Feed has seen steady growth, reflecting a strong demand for knowledge-sharing on the platform. Ibrahim said the initiative aligns with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 strategy, which emphasizes digital transformation and education.
“We have seen an increasing interest (in) STEM content on TikTok, and we anticipate further growth as engagement continues to rise,” she said. “This initiative reflects TikTok’s dedication to empowering talent and supporting the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 goals through tailored programs that nurture future generations.”
She added that launching the initiative in Saudi Arabia first underscores TikTok’s “commitment to fostering education-based communities, empowering discovery, and connecting dynamic communities through shared interests.”
Following the introduction of the STEM Feed in Saudi Arabia, TikTok now plans to expand the initiative to the UAE and Egypt later this year, Ibrahim revealed to Arab News.
The move comes at a critical time for the Chinese-owned platform, which faces a potential ban in the US. While an executive order by former President Donald Trump temporarily halted Congress’ efforts to block the app, its long-term future remains uncertain as TikTok executives and US lawmakers continue negotiations. The platform has also faced scrutiny over its impact on younger users.
A recent study by the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya found that more than half of young users spend over an hour a day on TikTok, with 24 percent exceeding two hours. In December, Saudi Arabia ranked fifth globally in TikTok traffic, accounting for 3.13 percent of visits worldwide — roughly 80.6 million visits — according to analytics platform Semrush. This has raised concerns about the platform’s effect on young users’ mental health and exposure to harmful content.
Ibrahim said TikTok is addressing these issues by prioritizing user safety and creating “a platform that is a digital safe space for all.
“We implemented several tools to ensure a safer experience for younger users. For example, accounts for users aged 13-15 are automatically set to private, and features like Live and Direct Messaging are restricted for younger teens,” she said.
She added that TikTok collaborates with parents and caregivers through tools such as Family Pairing, which allows them to “filter out” videos containing specific words or hashtags they prefer their teens not to see.
To further support younger users, TikTok has introduced initiatives such as a global Youth Council, which brings together 15 teenagers from diverse backgrounds to provide insights on platform safety. The company also partners with mental health organizations to provide in-app resources.
Ibrahim emphasized that while TikTok is working to mitigate potential risks, it also aims to expand its role in the MENA region’s digital landscape.
“Our goal is to help build a sustainable creative economy where local talent can shine on a global stage,” she said.
TikTok has launched several initiatives in the region, including the TikTok Creator Summit, which connects users with established content creators, and the Creator Hub program, designed to support emerging talent. The platform has also partnered with major events such as the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature and the Saudi Pro League to create digital experiences and exclusive content hubs.
Additionally, TikTok collaborated with the Red Sea International Film Festival to launch a short film competition, offering regional creatives a chance to connect with industry professionals and global audiences.
BBC apologizes over Gaza documentary narrated by son of Hamas figure
The broadcaster said that it shared the blame for the “unacceptable” flaws with the production company
“BBC News takes full responsibility for these and the impact that these have had on the Corporation’s reputation. We apologize“
Updated 27 February 2025
AFP
LONDON: The BBC apologized on Thursday for “serious flaws” in the making of a Gaza documentary after it emerged that the child narrator was the son of Hamas’s former deputy minister of agriculture.
The BBC removed its documentary, “Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone,” from its platform after a backlash and launched an immediate review into the “mistakes,” which it called “significant and damaging.”
The BBC said in a press release published Thursday that the review had identified “serious flaws in the making of this program,” which was produced by UK company Hoyo Films.
The broadcaster said that it shared the blame for the “unacceptable” flaws with the production company.
“BBC News takes full responsibility for these and the impact that these have had on the Corporation’s reputation. We apologize,” it added.
BBC finds "serious flaws" in making of Gaza documentary, and says there are "no plans" to air it again in current form https://t.co/NesoOZSpcZ
The independent production company was asked in writing “a number of times” during the making of the documentary about any potential connections the narrator might have with Hamas.
“Since transmission, they have acknowledged that they knew that the boy’s father was a deputy agriculture minister in the Hamas government; they have also acknowledged that they never told the BBC this fact,” said the press release.
“It was then the BBC’s own failing that we did not uncover that fact and the documentary was aired.”
The production company also revealed that they paid the boy’s mother “a limited sum of money” for the narration.
The BBC is seeking additional assurance that no money was paid directly or indirectly to Hamas.
UK culture minister Lisa Nandy told parliament earlier Thursday that she had demanded “cast-iron” guarantees that Hamas did not receive any money for the documentary after the opposition Conservative party brought an urgent question and called for a public inquiry.
“I also held discussions with the BBC director general earlier this week, at my request, in order to seek urgent answers about the checks and due diligence that should have been carried out,” she added.
The revelations sparked an angry response and led to protests outside the BBC’s London headquarters.
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) said: “The BBC’s bias and lack of accountability have led it to a new low, where it is a mouthpiece for terrorists and their supporters.”
The Telegraph also reported Tuesday that the Arabic words for Jew or Jews were changed to Israel or Israeli forces or removed from the documentary.
The broadcaster is now working to determine whether any disciplinary action is warranted “in relation to shortcomings in the making of this program.”
“This will include issues around the use of language, translation and continuity that have also been raised with the BBC,” it said.
The decision to remove the documentary from its catch-up service also led to criticism, with more than 500 TV and film workers — including former England footballer Gary Lineker — sending an open letter calling the move “politically-motivated censorship.”
“This film is an essential piece of journalism, offering an all-too-rare perspective on the lived experiences of Palestinian children living in unimaginable circumstances, which amplifies voices so often silenced,” said the letter.
The documentary was initially broadcast on February 17.
White House bars AP, Reuters and other media from covering Trump cabinet meeting
Move follows White House announcement that it would limit media access to the President in smaller spaces
Updated 27 February 2025
Reuters
WASHINGTON: The White House on Wednesday denied reporters from Reuters and other news organizations access to President Donald Trump’s first cabinet meeting in keeping with the administration’s new policy regarding media coverage.
The White House denied access to an Associated Press photographer and three reporters from Reuters, HuffPost and Der Tagesspiegel, a German newspaper.
TV crews from ABC and Newsmax, along with correspondents from Axios, the Blaze, Bloomberg News and NPR were permitted to cover the event.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced the White House would determine which media outlets would cover the president in smaller spaces such as the Oval Office.
The White House Correspondents’ Association has traditionally coordinated the rotation of the presidential press pool. Reuters, an international wire service, has participated in the pool for decades.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that while traditional media organizations would still be permitted to cover Trump on a day-to-day basis, the administration plans to change who participates in smaller spaces. The pool system, administered by the WHCA, allowed select television, radio, wire, print and photojournalists to cover events and share their reporting with the broader media.
The three wire services that have traditionally served as permanent members of the White House pool, the AP, Bloomberg and Reuters, on Wednesday released a statement in response to the new policy.
The services “have long worked to ensure that accurate, fair and timely information about the presidency is communicated to a broad audience of all political persuasions, both in the United States and globally. Much of the White House coverage people see in their local news outlets, wherever they are in the world, comes from the wires,” the statement from the three organizations said.
“It is essential in a democracy for the public to have access to news about their government from an independent, free press.”
HuffPost called the White House decision a violation of the First Amendment right to freedom of the press.
Der Tagesspiegel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Tuesday, the WHCA also issued a statement protesting the new White House policy.
The move follows the Trump administration’s decision to bar the Associated Press from being in the pool because it has declined to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, the name Trump has assigned the body of water, or update its widely followed stylebook to reflect such a change.
Leavitt said the five major cable and broadcast television networks would continue to hold their rotating seats in the pool while the White House would add streaming services. Rotating print reporters and radio reporters would continue to be included, while new outlets and radio hosts would be added.
Sharjah Media City to launch new production studios project
STUDIOI to design Shams Studios hub, construction contract to be announced later this year
Updated 27 February 2025
Arab News
LONDON: Sharjah Media City, or Shams, has awarded a design contract for its planned media production hub.
The design of Shams Studios will be undertaken by STUDIOI, a UAE-based engineering firm behind projects including The Park Hyatt Hotel in Riyadh and SHA Island near Al-Jurf, Abu Dhabi, according to reports on Thursday.
“The Shams Studios project reflects our unwavering commitment to developing a cutting-edge infrastructure that aligns with the latest global advancements in media and production,” said Rashid Abdullah Al-Obad, director of Shams.
“This is not just an investment in facilities; it is an investment in the future,” he added.
The facility will include five studios, each spanning 1,710 sq. meters, with a total area of 38,136 sq. meters.
It will also have post-production facilities including editing suites, visual-effects technologies, and sound-processing rooms.
The complex will have 20 creative units available for short- and long-term use, as well as workspaces, offices, meeting rooms, hotel, and accommodation for actors and production teams.
The construction contract is expected to be awarded in the fourth quarter of 2025.
These countries are “where the main FAST channel platforms have been building audiences,” and now “these platforms are starting to get traction in MENA (Middle East and North Africa), and the growth of FAST channels will naturally follow,” Black said.
