46 executive summary theibcdaily The news innovators
Nart Bouran Head of Sky News Arabia
Region: Middle East
Spring as experiences on the ground are translated onto global news agendas. In a timely debate, IBC scrutinised the role of consumer technology in news- gathering with Nart Bouran, head of Sky News Arabia underlining the importance of camera size.
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“Because of what is going on in the region, it is quite difficult for a crew to show up with a big camera,” he explains. “Our journalists are equipped with iPhones in the event that they are in a situation where something happens very quickly. I recall a couple of cases where our journalists had to use iPhones for security reasons.”
he ubiquity of smartphones and social networks has come into sharp focus during the Arab
By Carolyn Giardina
Sky News Arabia, a 50-50 joint venture between News Corp-owned BSkyB and the Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corporation, launched in May based out of Abu Dhabi’s twofour54 media zone in competition for 50 million Arabic viewers with established players like Al Jazeera. Bouran, previously director of television at Reuters, says the role of citizen journalists is pivotal. “If you look at footage of news events you always see people raising their phones and taking pictures. There is certainly a trend, but I don’t think that it is one that will lessen the value of the profes- sional cameraman on the ground providing higher quality
video. There is probably a bit too much citizen journalist footage from a quality point of view,” he admits, adding that it is also difficult to get proper sound bites from UGC. “But the limitations are excusable because of the value it provides in situations where you don’t have much of a choice. “It’s great when a citizen
journalist sends something in when there’s no one else around or there is breaking news,” Bouran says. “In Syria, they are pretty much every- where. The volume of content has been very useful. You can be sure that if a news event is big enough, it is going to pop up on a social media site.” This is also challenging, he says, since it puts pressure on the news teams to verify the source of clips. While today’s newsroom is outfitted with iPhones and
News in the iPhone age
Citizen journalism won’t lessen the value of the professional cameraman
social networking tools, Bouran says the essence of reportage hasn’t changed in two decades. “When I started in the business it was always about getting the best quality content as fast as you can. Technology is still working to serve that same purpose.”
Thank You
IBC thanks everyone who was part of the IBC2012 experience and looks forward to seeing you at IBC2013 in the RAI Amsterdam.
Conference 12-17 September 2013 Exhibition 13-17 September 2013
The premier annual event for professionals engaged in the creation, management and delivery of entertainment and media content worldwide.