Sultan Alsa’ad : Newspapers are threatened with extinction if it doesn't keep pace with the digital transformation

Sultan AlSa’ad Al-Qahtani, the editor-in-chief of TheRiyadhPost, assured that the  newspapers  are threatened with extinction under fierce competition from digital media.

Al-Qahtani also added during a session entitled "Why we fear the media change", held during the first day of the 17th session of the Arab Media Forum, organized by the Dubai Press Club that the survival of the newspapers is dependent on the development of media content, according to the Arab Media Forum Website.

The editor-in-chief of TheRiyadhPost added that the newspapers is witnessing a real crisis in our recent time, where the newspapers crisis is taking shape day by day under the development of digital media and the readers' transformation to the free content which is more rapid and sophisticated on the internet.

He continued that the digital and online media shouldn't be obstructed, pointing out that the reader can't wait for 24 hours to know through the paper press the global developments that are accelerating around him.

He added that the digital media are taking great steps towards resolving this battle, including providing the service of videos that bring the viewer directly to the scene of the event, in addition to the services of the infographics and show new news moment by moment, making it a "journalistic priority" at the expense of print newspapers that have to be waited to print the news the next day.

Al-Qahtani expected that infographics press and the internet will control on the media scene, but he assured that the content is the most important, whether was through the print or digital media.

Sultan Alsa’ad Al-Qahtani also predicted that television channels will face the same challenges which obstruct the newspapers if they don't develop themselves and keep pace with the media changes, where These channels won't be viable, where the term of "TV-on-demand"  will be the natural development in the future.