Ali Jaber ( ar, علي جابر) (born 1961) is a Lebanese
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...
,
media consultant,
TV personality
Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...
and the Group TV Director of
MBC, the Arab world's largest satellite broadcaster.
Academic and leadership
Mr. Jaber completed a bachelor's degree in business administration at the
American University of Beirut in 1984 before going on to earn a master's degree in communications at
Syracuse University in the US in 1986.
In 2008,
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum ( ar, محمد بن راشد آل مكتوم, links=no; ; born 15 July 1949) is the vice president, prime minister, and minister of defence of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as well as the ruler of Dubai. ...
instructed Ali to set up a Communication School at the
American University in Dubai
The American University in Dubai (AUD) ( ar, الجامعة الأمريكية في دبي) is a private, non-sectarian institution of higher learning in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, founded in 1995. AUD is accredited regionally as a separate u ...
. In July 2008 Ali was named Dean of Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Communication (MBRSC) and this year MBRSC graduates fifty students with degrees in Journalism and Digital Storytelling. One of the unique characteristics of the School is that it teaches all media writing courses in the Arabic language and its curricula focuses on Digital Media and Multi-platform Storytelling.
He also serves on the Board of Directors of two non-governmental organizations:
Clinton Global Initiative
The Clinton Foundation (founded in 2001 as the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, and renamed in 2013 as the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation) is a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code. It was es ...
(CGI) and Young Arab Leaders (YAL).
Ali Jaber was selected to the list of the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the world by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, an independent non-governmental research entity.
Ali Jaber was invited to be a speaker at the September 2011
TEDx
TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...
Beirut conference for inspirational leaders. His address was about the official launch of ''The Global Classroom'' which he had established at the American University in Dubai in partnership with the U.S. company
Cisco
Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, ...
. It was the first initiative in the Arab world to give students access to the best professors, business leaders and guest lecturers located around the globe.
Career
Upon returning to
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
, Ali joined the Fine Arts faculty of
Beirut University College. There he helped set up their
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting beg ...
Department and for eight years taught a range of courses in television production.
While working as a journalist in Beirut, Ali Jaber interviewed billionaire
Rafik Hariri
Rafik is the given name of:
* Rafik Al-Hariri (1944–2005), business tycoon, former Prime Minister of Lebanon
* Rafik Bouderbal (born 1987), French-born Algerian player currently playing for ES Sétif in the Algerian Championnat National
* Rafik ...
in 1992, months before he became
prime minister of Lebanon
The Prime Minister of Lebanon, officially the President of the Council of Ministers, is the head of government and the head of the Council of Ministers of Lebanon. The Prime Minister is appointed by the president of Lebanon, with the consent ...
. Ali Jaber was later asked to set up
Future TV
Future Television ( ar, تلفزيون المستقبل, ''Televiziyon al-Mustaqbal'') was a Lebanese free-to-air television station founded in 1993 by the Future Movement leader Rafik Hariri, a former Prime Minister of Lebanon. Future TV was als ...
, a privately owned
pan-Arab television station
A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the eart ...
Hariri's television network, which is still in operation. He managed Future TV until 2003. While with Future, he also started and managed a youth-oriented sister channel, Zen TV, which he ran for five years.
In 2004, he was approached by
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum ( ar, محمد بن راشد آل مكتوم, links=no; ; born 15 July 1949) is the vice president, prime minister, and minister of defence of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as well as the ruler of Dubai. ...
, the Ruler of
Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
, and brought in as a consultant to head
Dubai Media Incorporated
Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI) is the official media organization of the government of Dubai. It was established in 2003 as a state-owned company comprising a number of print, radio and TV channels under its umbrella including: Dubai TV, '' Al B ...
’s (DMI), to revamp and re-launch its four national pan-Arab satellite channels.
In 2006, he was appointed DMI's Managing Editor after having successfully managed to build, restructure and manage seven channels for DMI: Dubai TV, Dubai One, Sama Dubai, Dubai Sports One, Dubai Sports Two, Dubai Racing and Noor Dubai.
Working closely with current UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai
Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum ( ar, محمد بن راشد آل مكتوم, links=no; ; born 15 July 1949) is the vice president, prime minister, and minister of defence of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as well as the ruler of Dubai. ...
, DMI's Board Members and the Chairman of Dubai's governmental organizations, his responsibilities are wide-ranging and have grown to include the development of the media sector in the UAE.
Ali Jaber is group TV director of
MBC since September 2011. He is in charge of MBC's 13 television channels, including MBC MASR which started broadcasting November 9, 2012.
He serves as a celebrity judge on MBC's
Arabs Got Talent.
His judgements have had critics to liken him to
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of '' The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on ...
. He became a
household name
Household name may refer to:
* Household Name (album), ''Household Name'' (album), a studio album by Momma (band), Momma
* a popular brand, see brand awareness
* a popular person, see celebrity
* a term misused to exaggerate a product, see promoti ...
due to the widespread popularity of the show in the region.
Sheikh Hamdan Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai issued a decree on July 21, 2014 setting up The Dubai Council for Design and Fashion, which will be entrusted to work on plans and regulations for the purpose of establishing Dubai among the world capitals for design and fashion, The decree named Ali Jaber, Group TV Director of MBC along with other bright Lebanese and Arab Fashion, design & Media Industry leaders.
Journalism
Ali Jaber was a journalist covering the
war in Lebanon and
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
between the years 1987 to 1999. He was the correspondent of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' and ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' of London between 1989 and 1994, and Chief Correspondent for
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
and
Syria for the
German Press Agency
Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (dpa) is a German news agency founded in 1949. Based in Hamburg, it has grown to be a major worldwide operation serving print media, radio, television, online, mobile phones, and national news agencies. News is avai ...
(DPA) from 1987 to 1999.
Education and volunteer work
Ali Jaber completed a master's degree in public relations at
Syracuse University in the U.S. in 1986 and a bachelor's degree in business administration at the
American University of Beirut, Lebanon, in 1984.
After his return from Syracuse University, Ali Jaber helped to set up the Broadcasting Department at the Fine Arts faculty of the Beirut University College (the
Lebanese American University
The Lebanese American University (LAU) ( ar, الجامعة اللبنانية الأميركية) is a secular and private American university located in Lebanon. It is chartered by the board of regents of the University of the State of New Y ...
), where he also taught for eight years a range of courses in television production.
He is currently studying for a
PhD in management practices in Arab satellite televisions, at
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...
.
AUB Web Bulletin
During the civil war in Lebanon, Ali Jaber was a volunteer for the Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...
. He has also been a volunteer from many years with the Lebanese association of the mentally handicapped children and is currently an ambassador for SANAD, a home hospice association in Lebanon.
Sheikh Hamdan Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, issued a decree on July 21, 2014 setting up The Dubai Council for Design and Fashion, the decree named Ali Jaber as board Member along with other Lebanese and Arab fashion, design, and media industry leaders.
References
External links
''American University in Dubai official website''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaber, Ali
1961 births
Living people
American University in Dubai faculty
Syracuse University alumni
American University of Beirut alumni
Lebanese American University faculty
Lebanese expatriates in the United Arab Emirates