Report by Nasser Al-Otaibi KUWAIT, Sept 24 (KUNA) -- Printed elections advertisement seemed to be on the decline especially during the current campaign for the 2022 National Assembly elections in Kuwait on September 29. One cannot seem to escape elections advertisements with pictures, videos of candidates flooding various social media platforms on cellphones and computers. This apparent declined in printed media was not born recently, it coincided with the huge leap in technology witnessed in our modern era. Speaking to KUNA on the issue, chief-in-editor of Al-Anbaa news daily, Mohammad Al-Husseini said that the elections campaigns in recent years saw a decline advertisement using the printed medium, noting that around 85 percent of adverts in newspapers nowadays veer towards touting social media platforms. Printed media usually targets petitioners, heads of corporations, and probably government employees, added Al-Husseini. The high cost of advertising in printed media seems to be also a culprit in the decline, he affirmed. Meanwhile, Abdullah Al-Ulaiyan -- publisher of the online Al-Nukhba news -- said that printed media did not completely disappear from the scene, revealing that a huge swathe of the public still read printed papers. Some preferred to read the daily newspaper via the PDF format, noted Al-Ulaiyan, adding that papers nowadays are also venturing into platforms such as YouTube, WhatsApp and others to spread their content to the masses. He indicated that the whole notion of killing the printed media was far-fetched, affirming that the digital media could not cancel its printed counterpart and vice versa. Traditional media like radio, television, and newspapers could extend their reach and have a digital arm to continue their relevance in this day and age, Al-Ulaiyan added. On his part, media professor at Kuwait University (KU) Dr. Mohammad Al-Otaibi said that the retreat in elections advertisement in printed media was not something recent, the advent and proliferation of social media had played a crucial role in this aspect. Social media and digital platform has a wide and far reach, bringing thousands if not millions of audiences, he noted, indicating that candidates in this elections had paid attention to the power of digital outlets to attract voters and convince them to give them their vote. (end) nmo.gta