Hi-tech mobile applications are allowing Arab media giant Al Jazeera to bypass conservative American cable networks and instantly connect with Middle Eastern expats in the United States.
That's the message from the Qatar-based broadcaster's Global Mobile Product Leader - who says the boom in new media on snazzy devices such as smartphones and tablets has changed the way news is reported and covered forever.
Speaking to 7DAYS at a conference in Dubai on Tuesday, Al Jazeera's main mobile man Derrick Fountain - himself an American - said the days of Arab coverage being heavily restricted or even having the plug pulled in the US were fast becoming a thing of the past.
"In the US we have to go through cable networks," said Fountain.
"Some of them like us, some of them don't. The point is though that we have to go through all these hurdles to get on television screens - but with new media we can bypass that and go direct to the consumers. We can go direct to their handsets, direct to the internet."
Fountain says Al Jazeera has created two iPhone apps - one for the broadcaster's Arabic language channel and one for its English programmes.
"It's a very important distribution channel for us and we've been pretty successful in getting downloads from the US," he said.
"It's creating the way of how we shape news today - it's come light years." The prime example of that, he says, is the way last year's Arab uprisings were broadcast to the world.
"People used their mobiles as a weapon - it became their voice and it became something that brought down governments," said Fountain.
"User generated content, people sending pictures in and having a voice when there's no other way to air them - then amplifying them."
Al Jazeera used lessons learned from its reporting on Arab protests during recent Russian elections.
"You used to go out with all this clunky equipment - now it's smartphones," Fountain added. "We had journalists asking 'What do you think of Putin?' - capturing voices and sending it back in." While the devices may be getting smaller, Fountain says the broadcaster is still thinking big.
"The goal is to be the largest media organisation in the world," he said.
© 7Days 2012
