More than 120 experts in the media and advertising field have been invited to attend the Kingdom's first symposium in media research in Okaz Organization for Press and Publication headquarters here on Jan. 14. The event, organized by Okaz Organization, is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Information. It is going to be a professional meeting between media representatives and advertisers who will submit their working papers during the five-hour symposium. Participants will discuss the challenges of media studies and come up with resolutions and suggestions for both media and advertising parties, according to Dr. Abdullah Banakhrah, rapporteur of the symposium. At a press conference in Okaz Organization building on Wednesday, Dr. Banakhrah explained that “by media research, we mean studying the circulation and popularity of any publication among the public. Press establishments rely on these study plans to allocate a budget for developing the content of their products and also to specify income from advertisement.” “In the past few years, there have been some small efforts in the same field but this is the first specialized event that will discusses the research of the media in the region,” said Dr. Banakhrah. “Earlier media research wasn't really well-developed in Saudi Arabia but that won't be discussed in this symposium because we only want to begin with a fresh start,” said Dr. Banakhrah. “We don't want to start by discussing what should have been done. We want to be more professional than that.” The first working paper will be presented on behalf of advertisers by Mohammed Abu Dawood, Executive Manager for Abu Dawood Group. The second working paper will be presented by Saleh Al-Hemidan, General Director of Al-Yaum newspaper on behalf of the print media. Turki Al-Shebanah, Director General of Al-Khalejeyyah Channel, will present the third working paper on behalf of the Audio Visual Media. Nabeel Bakr, Executive Manager of I-COM Company will present his paper on behalf of advertisement companies. Sami Rafool, president of PARC Company will represent media research companies.
