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'Arabic National Geographic not threatened by Net'

By By FATIMA SIDIYA JEDDAH: The editor in chief of the Arabic version of National Geographic, which recently launched in October, said he is optimistic the specialist magazine will do well and not be negatively affected, like other sections of the print media, by the growing widespread use of the Internet in the Middle East.

The Abu Dhabi Media Company launched the well-known magazine's Arabic version, National Geographic Al-Arabiya, in October. Although the magazine's publishers are optimistic about its success, skeptics say the burgeoning growth in digital media in the Arab world and shift of media to online may be detrimental to the magazine's success.

Mohamed Al-Hamadi, the magazine's editor in chief, said the decision to publish the magazine in Arabic was made after a study of the region, adding that they received positive indications from 70 percent of people questioned.

Commenting on Middle East magazines that have stopped publishing in print and moved online, he said, "We are a specialized magazine that is actually used by many as a reference magazine and so kept in personal libraries. Other magazines face challenges because they cannot provide news and analysis as quickly as television channels and Internet sites."

Asked if Arab readers are interested in such a specialized magazine and have the time to read in-depth articles, Al-Hamadi said, "We have already been receiving encouraging comments from our readers. On the whole, we are not serving well-educated individuals, but families as a whole, starting from children all the way up."

National Geographic is already published in 33 languages across 166 countries. The Arabic version is aimed at 16 Arab countries with three headquarters in the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The first issue, which came out in October, had 35,000 print runs of which 85 percent was sold in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Morocco.

Although the Arabic version contains material that is translated from the English version, there are plans to produce original copy in Arabic. "We want local reporters to get to know the standard of our magazine before approaching. We need exclusive investigative reports with perfect shots. Therefore, we're also hoping to create a database of Arab photographers," he said.

There also plans to produce more Middle East reports focusing on environment, tourism and heritage, said Al-Hamadi, adding that the magazine has been in talks with government bodies for two months to pave the way for access to information.

National Geographic Al-Arabiya has a board of advisers consisting of experts and specialists from the Arab region including Egypt, the UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Jordon. Khawla Al-Kuraya is the magazine's adviser on medicine, Majid Al-Mansouri is adviser on the environment, Zahi Hawass is adviser on archaeology, Majdi Yacoub is adviser on medicine, Essam Heggy is adviser on astronomy, Ali Al-Shamlan is adviser on geology, and Rasem Badran is adviser on architecture.

© Arab News 2010