Prominent Arab journalist Nakhle Elhage, who ran the Al Arabiya news network for 16 years, is launching a digital startup called Blinx to produce news and short form storytelling content targeting Gen Z and millennials in the Middle East and beyond.
Headquartered in a high-tech Dubai Media City studio, Blinx is being dubbed as the first digital native storytelling hub in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). It “will soon launch on multiple platforms,” according to a statement.
The digital startup, which is financed by unspecified UAE-based investors, is offering a“more story, less noiseapproach,” the statement said, with content made by young people “delivering relatable content to a young audience in a way the MENA region has yet to see,” it added.
Elhage, who is the general manager of Blinx, said the startup’s goal is to inspire the region’s youth audiences “through honest, genuine and spectacular storytelling.”
“By providing news, entertainment and infotainment powered by the best tech and people available, we help build a better tomorrow,” he added, further noting, “Our new digital hub aims to be the go-to destination for stories that connect young people in MENA to the world and like-minded communities.”
Elhage also vowed that “Blinxwill keep itreal and genuine, away fromfake news, misinformation and disinformation.”
Blinxwill be equipped with state-of-the-art production facilities being touted as the MENA region’s firstmetaverse studios, comprising the latest live production tools, including AI-enhanced analytical software.
Besides plans for its content to play on social media platforms and on its own online portal,Blinxwill soon be unveiling its own digital apps that willbring “theliveproductionexperienceintomultiple smart devices and screens,” it said, “creating aholistic on-demand social ecosystem”where MENA youth audiences will be able “to find culturally relevant content at their fingertips.”
