From interviewing American actor Matt Damon two days after giving delivery, to answering work messages at 1 a.m. and tirelessly constructing her extremely fashionable program Scoop with Raya, Lebanese journalist and TV host, Raya Abirached, has undeniably grow to be the Arab world’s most well-known media icon. But, all of it started with a easy premise: a woman who merely loves motion pictures.
In at this time’s social media panorama, the place Gen Z wrestle with the selection of constructing their very own platform or withdrawing from it altogether, Abirached’s journey from tv to digital media supplies classes for younger Arabs aspiring to enter the media and leisure business.
The chance to study from these classes lastly got here at The Youth Summit 2025, held at The American College in Cairo (AUC) on 19–20 September. Designed particularly for Egypt’s Gen Z, the summit centered on the theme of “Taking the Leap.”
For Abirached, nonetheless, her personal leap in media was neither drastic, calculated, nor even strategic, as some may assume; quite, it was rooted in her identification as a self-proclaimed film lady.
With that easy ardour, she held onto it and fueled it persistently all through her profession.
“Who am I? I’m the film lady. I’m a woman who loves motion pictures,” Abirached mentioned. “It was a quite simple concept, and that easy concept ended up turning into a flagship film present for the whole area. Not as a result of I deliberate it, however as a result of I actually love motion pictures and I occurred to be superb at tv.”
Whereas there have been many forces pulling at her to alter the idea of the present and switch it into shiny leisure or extra of an eye-candy spectacle, Abirached stayed true to its essence, by no means as soon as altering it. In at this time’s social media world, the place going viral is seen as the one measure of success, Abirached’s 15-year expertise proves that this isn’t all the time the case.
“Fairly often they tried to alter the present into an leisure or gossip present, however I resisted,” Abirached mentioned. “I’m the film lady. I really like motion pictures. And you’re keen on the present since you really feel that I really like motion pictures. That zeal is what made individuals wish to see movies within the cinema. It was a easy idea, but it surely labored as a result of it was actual.”
From Tv to TikTok
Since its launch in 2005 on MBC2, Scoop with Raya has grow to be Abirached’s gateway for introducing Hollywood and worldwide celeb tradition to Arab audiences. What actually set the present aside, nonetheless, was not solely its high-profile interviews with stars like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, however Abirached’s personal hallmark of pure, long-form conversational type that gave this system its distinct identification and rising recognition.
With the rise of social media within the 2010s, the present tailored by opening new channels of interplay, from taking fan questions on Twitter to incorporating digital engagement immediately into its format. Over time, Scoop with Raya has transitioned from a standard tv program right into a platform that speaks to the fluid, fast-paced world of social media. But at its core, Abirached has tried to take care of the facility of significant dialog, even on this planet of 10-second clips.
“It’s very attention-grabbing for me now to attempt to discover methods to reside on social media. I take my interviews and chop them into small items of attention-grabbing issues in order that we will have a story on social media. However, I nonetheless crave lengthy type,” she shares.
“I nonetheless suppose that it’s extra attention-grabbing for me to take a seat down and converse to an actor for 20 minutes than it’s to talk to them for 2 minutes. I nonetheless discover dialog attention-grabbing.”
The rise of TikTok and different short-form platforms usually raises the query of whether or not long-form nonetheless has a spot. Analysis has even found that quick movies obtain extra likes, feedback, and shares than lengthy movies. Although Abirached argues that the reply just isn’t about declaring one format “higher” than the opposite, however about recognizing that audiences devour each in several methods.
“TikTok has 10-minute movies, so I don’t suppose lengthy format is dying,” she says. “I feel the lengthy format just isn’t on development in the mean time, however it would come again.”
Podcasts, she argues, show that long-form storytelling and conversations proceed to thrive, even within the age of scrolling. “Podcasts are a type of longer content material that folks like to do. They’ve discovered a technique to hear. It’s only a second of change.”
Audiences have undeniably remodeled. What was as soon as consumed on a sofa over a meal is now watched on the transfer, whereas strolling, cooking, and even doing one’s make-up, in only a matter of seconds. The viewers who as soon as sat via a 20-minute interview now anticipate content material they will carry with them in every single place, which raises the query: how can creators and journalists observe their audiences into this fast-paced world with out dropping which means or originality?
For Abirached, it’s about figuring out your individual ‘three seconds’; figuring out who you’re and the way rapidly you may ship one thing genuine and totally different in a brief span of time. “What are your ‘three seconds’? That’s what is going to make you profitable. Not doing what others are doing due to a development, however creating your very personal development due to who you’re and what you uniquely convey to the world,” she says.
As audiences develop accustomed to consuming fast content material anytime and wherever, success is more and more measured in immediacy. The give attention to chasing the subsequent viral video usually replaces the long-term imaginative and prescient wanted to plan for the subsequent 5 years, which Abirached argues is an unsustainable development.
“Generally Gen Z seems like success can come immediately with an ideal social media publish or a viral second. I don’t come from that era. I come from a era the place you construct your profession step-by-step, with persistence and exhausting work. It’s like wholesome meals, it lasts longer,” she added.
Analysis backs up her level. A recent 2024 Pew Analysis Middle evaluation revealed how fleeting on-line content material actually is, as by October 2023, 1 / 4 of all webpages that existed between 2013 and 2023 had been now not accessible. Almost one in 5 tweets had additionally vanished from public view inside months of being posted.
For younger journalists and aspiring media professionals, this primarily implies that digital content material is fragile. On-line posts can disappear at any second, leaving nothing behind, and that impermanence is a stark reminder to construct careers and legacies on extra than simply the fleeting nature of the web.
“Success that comes too rapidly doesn’t final lengthy. You may shoot a viral video and get 100,000 followers, however what about 5 years from now? That’s why I consider in perseverance,” she says.
Wanting forward, Abirached believes that past the fleeting pull of virality, fame, or success, what endures is authenticity. In a world consumed by infinite scrolling, she finds herself returning to the teachings of her tv days, when real dialog held weight, as a information for the longer term.
“I used to be requested to publish rather more than I wished, and I resisted. Possibly it meant I wouldn’t have the engagement others had, however for me, psychological well being and authenticity matter extra.”