The Saudi Media Forum, in its fifth edition, taking place from 2nd to 4th February 2026 under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, will witness an exceptional presence of more than 300 prominent global media leaders. This major media gathering, comprising more than 100 dialogue sessions, represents a pivotal platform for exploring the future of media in a rapidly transforming world, reflecting the dynamic cultural and developmental landscape of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its openness to global voices.
The dialogue sessions address pivotal issues shaping the future of the media industry. The session “How Do Alliances Shape Global Public Opinion?” offers an in-depth analysis of the power of alliances and partnerships between media institutions in engineering convictions and directing public opinion toward specific issues. The session “Between Political Analysis and Public Diplomacy: The Future of Discourse on the Region” discusses the intertwined relationship between media and diplomacy in shaping narratives about West Asia. The session “When Media Leads Major Transformations” analyses the role of media in explaining and conveying messages accompanying major social and economic reforms.
The Forum’s fifth edition also features the expansion of the Saudi Media Award, one of its key events, across four main tracks forming a comprehensive framework covering fourteen categories of media practice. Within the visual and audio media content track, the award introduces the category of AI-generated content as an unprecedented qualitative addition in the history of media awards. This category represents a fundamental shift redefining the concept of the creative industry, as it is the first global award dedicated to this field within a professional awards ecosystem. Intelligent content thus emerges as a standalone creative stream, reflecting Saudi Arabia’s ambitious direction toward leadership in employing artificial intelligence to build advanced content that merges human imagination with advanced technological capabilities, offering content creators new space to explore the boundaries of innovation and transcend traditional production frameworks. Through this track, a new concept of digital content quality is formed – based on intelligence, innovation, and cross-border impact.
The Saudi Media Forum has also launched a package of specialised initiatives, including the Saudi Media Innovation Bootcamp (Saudi MIB), which focuses on the future technological dimension of the media industry through training camps and intensive programs in AI, data analysis, and digital media product development. The “SMF GROW UP” initiative targets emerging media companies and entrepreneurs in production, digital platforms, and supporting media services.
Disclaimer – The details expressed in this post are from the organisations responsible for circulating this post for publication and the views are of the spokespersons. This website doesn’t endorse the details published here. Readers are urged to use their own discretion while making a decision about using this information in any way. There has been no monetary benefit to the Publisher/Editor/Website Owner for publishing this post and the Website Owner takes no responsibility for the impacts of using this information in any way.