Arab News partners with YouGov to survey hearts and minds of public in Middle East and beyond

Media deal to involve regular polls of Arab citizens and surveys on international opinion concerning regional affairs

Arab News, the Middle East’s leading international English-language daily, has entered an exclusive partnership with the globally-acclaimed online polling firm YouGov.

The deal will see YouGov conduct regular polls relating to the Middle East and North Africa, which will help shed light on regional sentiment toward international events, as well as producing credible research on international opinion on Arab affairs.

Findings from the polls conducted under the agreement will be published from next month and appear regularly in the pages of Arab News and online at www.arabnews.com.

The media partnership will be officially announced at the upcoming Arab Media Forum (AMF) happening in Dubai on May 1-2.

“In an era of fast-moving news cycles, information overload and ‘fake news’, there could be no better time for a media brand to invest in quality, credible research such as that produced by YouGov,” said Faisal J. Abbas, editor in chief of Arab News.

“This inevitably means that Arab News readers will enjoy a series of highly insightful research-based reports which will, in turn, bring us closer to understanding the hearts and minds of the region.

“This is consistent with our wider journalistic mission: To be a credible source of information about the Arab world for regional and international readers, and to provide insights about the Middle East and North Africa to English speakers worldwide.”

Stephan Shakespeare, chief executive of YouGov, said that the partnership would result in some valuable research on public opinion in a part of the world where such information is rare.

“In a region where credible statistics can be scarce, our partnership with Arab News will throw light on both how the Arab public feel about pressing global issues, and how the world sees the Middle East,” he said.

“In light of the deep divisions over global political issues and the ‘fake news’ phenomenon, accurate research and information has never been as important as it is now. We look forward to working with Arab News to conduct credible surveys on what people in the region really think — and also what the rest of the world thinks about the region.”

The two parties worked previously to produce the “Arab News/YouGov US election MENA poll”, which provided insights into regional opinion on the November election race. The poll revealed which of the two main candidates — Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton — were most popular in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as how Arab citizens felt about the key policy statements. Results of the poll attracted global attention and were carried by prominent news outlets such as CNN and The Observer newspaper.

The Saudi Arabia-based Arab News was established in 1975 and is currently undergoing a transformation to boost its online output and global presence.

PICTURE CAPTION

Faisal J. Abbas, editor in chief of Arab News (right), and Stephan Shakespeare, chief executive of YouGov.