Key appointments at DMI publishing sector

Based on the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, and the follow-up of Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, and Chairman of Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI), the organisation announced on Tuesday key appointments and a new organisational structure for the publishing sector. These include the appointment of new Editors-in-Chief and Managing Editors in its newspapers, in a move designed to make a qualitative transformation in this vital media sector.

"We are pleased to announce the recruitment and appointment of a group of prominent local media competencies, as part of a comprehensive restructuring process of the publishing sector," said Mona Al Marri, Director-General of the Government of Dubai Media Office, who is in charge of overseeing the Publishing Sector within DMI.

The latest restructuring at Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI) is aimed at improving performance and giving local competencies a pivotal role in the media sector.

"The new appointments are designed to bring about a qualitative transformation in the performance of our media Institutions under the leadership of local media competencies, said Mona Al Marri.

"We aim at developing local competencies from the second and third row to continue to lead our media sector and to build on our previous achievements," she added.

Following are the key appointments:

    # Ahmed Al Hammadi appointed Executive Director of the Publishing Sector

    # Muna Bu-Samra was appointed Editor-in Chief of Al Bayan newspaper and Riyad Mickdady as Executive Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper.

    # Khadija Al Marzouqi was appointed Editor-in-Chief of Emirates 24l7,  Basil Al Rafayah as Managing Editor and Ibrahim Shukrallah Deputy Managing Editor.

    # Abdallah Al Qamzi was appointed Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Emarat Al Youm and Abdallah Bin Issa as Managing Editor.

    # Taleb Shaheen was appointed Editor Manager of Local Affairs and Fadhileh Al Muaini was appointed Editor Manager of Arab & International Affairs, and Ibrahim Al Hisawi Editorial Director of Technical Affairs at Al Bayan newspaper and Moza Fikri, Editor Manager of Digital Media.

Al Marri added: "This is done with the aim to improve its performance in line with developments witnessed in various sectors, where the media sector is expected to contribute and play a vital role, as the country enters a new phase of growth and development under its wise leadership.

"We took into account during this restructuring process of the publishing sector at DMI, to give a pivotal role for our local competencies because we believe in their capabilities to achieve the desired development," she added.

Proven National Talent

"Our local competencies have proved their talents and capabilities in various sectors and we are confident that they are capable of achieving such success within the media sector which is one of the most vibrant sectors".

She explained by saying: "During the last two months, ambitious plans for development were set up to achieve in depth and comprehensive operations in various newspapers under DMI Publishing Sector, including our two daily newspapers, Al Bayan and Emarat Al Youm as well as our digital newspaper Emirates 24l7."

She added: "Besides recruiting some outstanding media veterans, we have started implementing a multi-pronged strategy designed to bring about a comprehensive development of media content, which we believe would help consolidate the status of our three newspapers and entrench its popularity and readership base... improving adopted work mechanisms in order to enhance efficiency of performance are also part of these developments".

Boosting Emiratisation

Regarding the new appointments Al Marri said: “Besides attracting a selection of Emirati media competencies and talents, the focus was on building second and third rank local media leadership to ensure the continuation of Emiratisation and increasing the number and percentage of nationals in this industry, in order to participate in leading the media sector and build on achievements realised."

She said: “Al Bayan and Emarat Al Youm have an exceptional position in UAE media landscape, and the two newspapers have achieved notable successes over the past years, and we are confident that initiating the implementation of these development programmes will help boost the performance of these newspapers, to reach a leading position in the market."

New Structure

The list of appointments and new organisational structure included assigning Ahmad Al Hamady to the role of Director-General of Publishing, and encompassed the majority of leading positions in three publications.

Mona BuSamra was appointed as the Chief Editor of Al Bayan newspaper. Riyad Mickdady, moves from being the Editor-in-Chief of Emirates 24|7 to being appointed as the Executive Editor-in-Chief of Al Bayan newspaper. Included were the appointments of four managing editors: Taleb Shaheen (Managing Editor of Local Affairs), Fadhileh Almuaini (Managing Editor of Arabic and International Affairs), Ibrahim Alhasawi (Managing Editor of Technical Production) and Moza Fikri (Managing Editor of Digital Media), in addition to Mohammad Aljoker as the Public Relations/Media Consultant.

As for Emarat Al Youm newspaper, headed by Sami Al Reyami as Editor-in-Chief, came also the appointment of Abdulla Al Qamzi as Deputy Editor-in-Chief and Abdulla Bin Issa as Managing Editor.

The online publication Emirates 24l7 witnessed the appointment of Khadija Al Marzouqi as Editor-in-Chief, Basil Al Rafayah as Managing Editor, and Ibrahim Shukrallah as Deputy Managing Editor.

The scope of appointments and promotions at Al Bayan newspaper included assigning the role of Head of Creative to  Fatma Ahmad Al Falasi, Head of Local Affairs to Zaher Al Ali , Head Of Editorial Content Support to Khaled Huwaidi, Head of Production and Technical Support to Mohamed Kamal Najmi, Deputy Head of Translation Section to Alyaziya AlBadwawi, and photographer to Abdulla Al Matroushi.

At the Emarat Al Youm newspaper, Fahima Zinil was promoted to the post of Deputy Head of Production, and two units were introduced to the local affairs section, where Shaimaa Hinawi headed the Investigation Unit, and Mariam Al Marzouki the News Unit.

Accordingly, along with the Emiratisation efforts within the media sector, a new specialised relevant section was created under Samira Abu Bakr as head of section, added to that was the Training and Development section under Asma Juma.

Momentous Progress

Mona Al Marri said: “We trust that the act of joining these national skills to the publishing sector of Dubai Media Incorporated allows developing considerably the performance of the local newspapers and achieving our ambitious goals. It also tackles keeping pace with the momentous progress and vividness of media and other sectors.”

Al Marri considered that the strategy of development gave a priority to the qualitative transformation in the local media, where it focused more than ever on domestic expertise in leading the developmental process, in accordance with the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and the diligent follow-up of Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai.

Al Marri concluded: “The Emiratisation rates within the media sector didn’t reach yet the general level of our ambitions, in the executive and leading positions in particular. In DMI, we look forward to introducing a radical change through mid and long-term plans towards increasingly rallying, training and preparing eligible citizens, and the appointment of such a cadre of media leading figures is only the first step.”

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