Murdoch in the Middle (East), Discussing Future of Media

By Farrah Hamid

March 10, 2010

The first-ever Abu Dhabi Media Summit is currently underway, and Rupert Murdoch, head honcho of News Corp., has set his lucrative little heart on the Middle East as the creative future of the media industry. News Corp. owns a slew of media properties, including MySpace – which hasn’t given us much lately, ”Jihad Jane” aside – and, ironically, the region’s biggest media fan, Fox News.

Murdoch recently invested over $70 million in the Abu Dhabi-based Rotana Group (whose Chairman Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was one of elan’s top entrepreneurs). As we know, the media industry is still emerging in the Middle East region, and is showing strong growth, particularly amongst the youth populations. So, since nobody in America seems to know how to figure out the media industry now that this thing called the Internet has arrived, Murdoch is setting sights on a different population for the answers.

The invitation-only event (ours must have gotten lost in the mail), was attended by heavy hitters like Tim Armstrong, CEO of AOL, Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google and Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer.

As an example of the endless possibilities with cross-cultural collaboration in the media, Murdoch cited “My Name is Khan,” the latest Bollywood blockbuster sweeping centered on the story of a Muslim in San Francisco after the September 11th attacks:

“The good news is that the geographic borders that once limited your potential are today largely irrelevant… [’My Name is Khan’] speaks to the cross-border soul of the creative industry. The film is a joint venture between an Indian company and an American company. It is a story told from the point of view of a Muslim. It was financed in part from Abu Dhabi. It features Indian stars who are popular in this region. It is attracting huge audiences here in the Middle East…in India…in the U.K….in the United States. The popularity of ‘My Name Is Khan’ reminds us that no nation has a monopoly on creative content. If you tell a good story, people will respond.” (You can read the full text of Murdoch’s speech at the Abu Dhabi Media Summit here at PaidContent.org)

Sounds like a plan to us – we are all for fostering a creative sector in the Middle East, particularly for the media. What do you think – will the region respond to the magic Murdoch touch?