GAZA: The owner of Gaza’s first virtual reality gaming cafe is offering a fantasy world of action, music, and sports to young people who have grown up under the blockade.
“Often many of the youth who come here to play they look for an escape from the reality they live in,” Firas Al-Khodary, the owner of VR Station in Gaza city, said.
With opportunities for travel ruled out for most people by the years-long border closure imposed by Israel and Egypt, the online realm is an outlet for young people hungry for entertainment and distraction.
“I move into cities, different places, mountains, and oceans, cities that are impossible for us to visit,” said 22 year-old Youssef Al-Qudairi.
According to Al-Khodary, virtual action and combat games are the most popular among young men, while young women tend to favor sports, music and travel.
“Since we are blockaded and it is difficult to travel and move from one place to another, we come to VR and make up for all these things and we live it in the virtual reality,” said 16 year-old Nisreen Shamalakh as she put on her headset.
Virtual reality tools offer escape to blockaded Gaza youth
https://arab.news/nmghc
Virtual reality tools offer escape to blockaded Gaza youth
- Young people enjoy immerse experiences in Gaza's first VR cafe
Riyadh panel unpacks media influence in digital era
- Arab News-led discussion at SMF examines the realities behind media power and sustainability
RIYADH: “We don’t shape narratives, they shape us,” Vincent Peyregne, former CEO of World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, told a panel at the Saudi Media Forum in Riyadh on Monday.
Moderated by Arab News Editor-in-Chief Faisal Al-Abbas, the session titled “How do alliances shape global public opinion?” explored how media organizations navigate public opinion, commercial pressures, and the shift away from traditional revenue models. It challenged the notion that media outlets can control audience perception.
“In some part, we document the public opinion,” Peyregne added. “But I don’t see any reasonable publishers in our network saying, ‘I’m shaping the public opinion.’”
Al-Abbas described the idea of media shaping public opinion as an illusion when responding to questions about a “secret formula of success,” saying: “The perception that anybody can dominate public opinion is an illusion,” he said.
The session explored the evolving global media landscape, comparing traditional publishers with newer digital players and examining how alliances and platforms influence reach and sustainability.
A key theme was the decline of state support for private media. Peyregne argued that the era of subsidies is effectively over, stressing that editorial independence depends on financial self-sufficiency.
Ben Smith, cofounder and editor in chief of Semafor, echoed this view by noting that many traditional publishers mistakenly wait for the government to “give back” their audience or revenue.
Smith, who brings a different perspective to the session with a background at Politico and Buzzfeed, said, “There is a tendency among the traditional publishers to say, ‘We know how the world is meant to be organized and the new players are taking an audience that is meant for us.’”
He argued that media must adapt to the digital ecosystem rather than seeking government-mandated compensation as a primary survival strategy.
Peyregne added that publishers are increasingly moving away from the “victim mentality” or “blame game” and instead are taking responsibility for their own survival rather than relying on regulators or blaming platforms like Google and Facebook.
He outlined a three-pillar revenue model for sustainable media companies, moving away from 80 percent ad reliance toward a balanced mix of advertising, paid content, direct audience relationships, and diversification through events, data, and digital agencies.
