The future of print

Although print media is virtually on life support in other parts of the world, it is remarkably healthy in the Middle East. Until the global economic downturn, advertising at pan-Arab magazines was expected to grow at about 21 percent annually through 2015. Newspapers in vibrant United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabian markets were projected to enjoy year-over-year gains in ad revenue of roughly 17 percent through 2012. These numbers, coming at a time when publishers in North America and Europe are hemorrhaging ad pages, are all the more remarkable stacked up against Middle Eastern profit margins of as much as 20 percent for magazines and 40 percent for newspapers. As elsewhere, advertising in the Middle East has slowed, so these ad projections are now being revised downward. But a series of cultural and political factors that distinguish the Middle East from the West nonetheless ensure the potential for continued steady