Media

Home to the UAE’s largest Arabic-language newspaper, Al Khaleej, a growing number of local and regional television channels, popular radio stations, and a large publishing footprint in books and journals, Sharjah boasts a rich media environment. Despite all this, the establishment of media free zones in the federation’s two largest emirates in recent years – Dubai Media City and Abu Dhabi’s twofour54 – there has been a sense that Sharjah needs to up its game to continue to compete with its neighbours. To that end, the announcement in 2016 of a new media free zone to be built in Sharjah, along with plans for other media-friendly initiatives, has the potential to transform the emirate’s role in the UAE’s media landscape.

This chapter contains interviews with Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, Chairman, Sharjah Media Council; and Khalid Omar Al Midfa, General Director, Sharjah Media Corporation.