A remarkable spread of local news networks on social media has recently been witnessed, a phenomenon that reflects the richness and diversity of the Emirati media environment while remaining highly competitive and coping with the changes imposed by technology and its impact on the news sectors, especially with the advantages offered by these networks of rapid publication and instant sharing of news information and interaction, and echo measurement for the content of the news article.

Diversity of news networks reflects the healthy status of media in society and the effectiveness and variety of its tools; nonetheless, the contributions of these networks are still largely based on news reporting not news making, thus necessitating more efforts to enhance the journalistic role of these networks.

Building on this, The Local News Networks Forum, organised by the “Sharjah 24” news website, affiliated with the Sharjah Government Media Bureau, discusses a number of topics that deal with the services delivered by these news networks, including the news creation, concepts of citizen journalism, capabilities and influence, in addition to other discussion points aimed at identifying the reality of news networks, their future, and development opportunities at hand.