One of the World Economic Forum’s most animated debates was centered around “Race for an Audience: Media in the Middle East.” The region’s media landscape, especially in terms of television, has changed significantly over the past decade, from a bland menu served up by dozens of state-run broadcasters, to more than 400 mostly private broadcasters offering a mix of news and entertainment. Partly due to rapid population growth, the Middle East ranks as the world’s fastest growing region in terms of media and advertisement income. Arguably the debate’s main question was if the increase in the quantity of channels has been, and will be, accompanied by an increase in quality. Nakhle el-Hage, news and current affairs director at the Al Arabiya News Channel, noted that the region’s annual advertisement budget for TV measures only $800 million. He argued that the reason most news channels — other than Al Arabiya —
