Abu Dhabi prepares to host the inaugural BRIDGE Summit 2025 from December 8-10 at ADNEC Abu Dhabi, assembling over 430 prominent media figures to confront the industry’s most pressing challenges. The landmark event will feature industry titans including Jeff Zucker (RedBird IMI), broadcasters Emily Maitlis and Jane Ferguson, and political commentator Chuck Todd addressing critical themes of trust reconstruction, narrative influence, and information governance amid rapid technological disruption.
The summit’s comprehensive program will examine multiple dimensions of media transformation. Zucker will lead ‘The Comfort Crisis in Media’, analyzing how consolidation and emerging business models are reshaping editorial leadership. Maitlis will explore narrative framing in ‘Stories with an Agenda’, addressing misinformation concerns and trust restoration mechanisms.
Ferguson and Todd will jointly present ‘Building a New Backbone for Journalism’, discussing political reporting’s evolution amid algorithmic influence and audience fragmentation. Concurrent sessions will investigate viral storytelling’s impact on economic behavior and political outcomes, with political economist Dr. Vuk Vuković demonstrating how narratives function as forces of change.
The program will also highlight regional perspectives, with Faisal Al Agel and Munera Al Shiraifi detailing how authentic, value-driven content is reshaping Arab media consumption. Digital communication evolution will be examined through ‘Memes as a Media Business’, exploring how internet culture influences identity formation and brand behavior.
Global entertainment adaptation strategies will be addressed by Warner Bros. Discovery’s Grigory Lavrov, while Moira Forbes and Stephanie Mehta will analyze longform journalism’s renaissance across digital platforms. The summit will further confront governance challenges with ‘Blueprints for Governing Digital Speech’, examining the balance between safety protocols and free expression.
Conflict reporting transformation will be highlighted by journalist Plestia Alaqad, discussing how encrypted messaging and citizen journalism are revolutionizing high-risk environment coverage. Future workforce preparation will be addressed through LinkedIn’s Najat Abdelhadi’s session on automation’s impact on media roles by 2035.
Organized under the BRIDGE Alliance mandate, this non-profit initiative reflects the UAE’s commitment to global media cooperation and innovation ecosystem development. The event expects to draw over 60,000 participants alongside 300 exhibitors, establishing itself as the world’s largest debut media convergence forum.