Arab News was founded in Jeddah on 20 April 1975 by Hisham Hafiz and his brother Mohammad Hafiz.[6][7][8] It was the first English-language daily newspaper published in Saudi Arabia.[9]Arab News is also the first publication of SRPC.[10] The daily was jointly named by Kamal Adham, Hisham Hafiz and Turki bin Faisal.[11]
The paper is one of twenty-nine publications published by Saudi Research and Publishing Company (SRPC), a subsidiary of Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG).[12] The former chairman of SRMG and therefore, Arab News is Turki bin Salman Al Saud.[13] He was succeeded by Prince Bader Al Farhan who went on to become Cultural Minister. SRMG's current chairman is Engineer Abdulrahman bin Ibrahim Rwaita.
Relaunch
On 4 April 2018, Arab News changed its 43-year-old logo with a new one as well as its motto of "The Middle East's Leading English Language Daily" to "The Voice of a Changing Region" (referring to the reforms made by Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman). In April 2018, it announced moving its headquarters from Jeddah to Riyadh.[14]
Chief editors and staff
Jihad Khazen, who later went on to establish Asharq Al Awsat, was the first editor-in-chief of the paper; however, because Saudi laws at the time prevented a non-Saudi from being in this position, he was given the title General Manager and editorial role was assigned to Ahmad Mahmoud who served in that role from 20 April 1975 to October 1, 1977.[8][11] Mohammad Ali Hafiz, who was the co-founder of the newspaper, took on the role of Editor-in-Chief between 1 October 1977 until 1 October 1979. He was followed by Mohammad Shibani between 1 October 1979 – 30 April 1982.[15]
Khaled al-Maeena became Editor in Chief on 1 May 1982 and remained at the helm until 20 February 1993. Farouq Luqman followed between 25 February 1993 and 1 June 1993. Then, it was Abdulqader Tash's time to lead the newspaper, which he did until 28 February 1998. Khaled al-Maeena returned to Arab News for another term, serving as Editor in Chief between 1 March 1998 and 8 October 2011. Abdulwahab al-Faiz came next for a brief period (9 October 2011 – 4 January 2013), and then came Mohammad Fahad al-Harthi, who was at the time also the editor of Sayidatti (the group's women weekly), and he served in that role until 26 September 2017[15]
On 27 September 2016, Faisal J. Abbas was appointed as Editor-in-Chief following an announcement by SRMG's new chairman, Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan al-Saud. Having previously re-launched and served as Editor-in-Chief at Al Arabiya English, Abbas's declared mandate was to make Arab News "more global, more digital".[16]
Notable staff
Among the newspaper's notable staff are/were Somaya Jabarti who went on to become the first female Editor-in-Chief in the kingdom's history when she took the top job at the paper's rival, Saudi Gazette, in 2014; Hana Hajjar, the only female political cartoonist in Saudi Arabia;[17] Siraj Wahab, the paper's longtime deputy managing editor; and Rasheed Abousamah, who now serves as the paper's Latin America correspondent. In 2017, the paper announced the establishment of a London bureau and an Asian bureau headed by veteran journalist Baker Atyani. It also has a regional bureau in Dubai.
Under Faisal J. Abbas, Arab News relaunched with a new design announced at the 2018 Arab Media Forum.[18] This saw the masthead and slogan change for the first time in 43 years. It also witnessed an expanded the op-ed and analysis section with high-profile contributors such as former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal, former Turkish FM Yassar Yakis, UAE businessman Khalaf Ahmad al-Habtoor,[19] US–Arab affairs expert Dr. Amal Mudallali, Chatham House's Yossi Mekelberg, Chris Doyle from CAABU and senior business journalist Frank Kane who left the UAE's The National to join Arab News in February 2017.[20]
Content
The front page of the first issue of Arab News on 20 April 1975
Arab News offers a variety of news ranging from politics and finance to sports and social events.[3] It published an op-ed written on the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks by Rasheed Abu Alsamh who commented:
First, we must stop denying that any of the hijackers were Saudis or even Arab. We must also stop saying that the September 11 attacks were a CIA-Zionist plot to make the Arabs and Islam look bad. That is utter nonsense. We must be mature and responsible enough to admit that these sick minds that hatched and perpetrated these dastardly attacks, were, sadly, a product of a twisted viewpoint of our society and our religion...We must stop the hatred being taught to our children in schools.[21]
On 8 May 2011, Hassan bin Youssef Yassin, a longtime aide to Foreign Minister Saud bin Faisal, wrote in Arab News that the Arab countries had all failed miserably to offer either democracy or economic well-being.[22]
In May 2017, Arab News entered a media partnership with British online polling experts, YouGov. The regional exclusive deal was announced at the 16th annual Arab Media Forum (AMF) during a special gala for international journalists. According to a joint press release, the partnership aims to "survey the hearts and minds of the public in the Middle East and beyond". Stephan Shakespeare, chief executive of YouGov, said that the partnership would result in valuable research on public opinion in a part of the world where such information is rare. Announcing the deal, Arab News Editor in Chief Faisal J. Abbas said: “In an era of fast-moving news cycles, information overload and ‘fake news’, there could be no better time for a media brand to invest in quality, credible research such as that produced by YouGov.".[23] Some of the studies that were produced as a result of this partnership showed that 81 percent of Americans can't locate the Arab World on a map and that the majority of Saudis supported the decision to allow women to drive.
Criticism
The newspaper has been described as "a mouthpiece for the Saudi regime" by Qatari-owned The New Arab,[24] and regarded as "reflecting official Saudi Arabian government position" by the Associated Press and Haaretz.[5]
Controversy
Although the paper is owned by SRMG, which is close to the Saudi government, there are some incidents in which the government dismisses journalists of the paper. In March 1992, the editor-in-chief of the Arab News, Khalid Almeena, was briefly dismissed for reprinting an interview with the Egyptian Muslim leader Sheikh Omar Abdul-Rahman published in a US daily.[25]
In April 2007, another controversial incident occurred in which Saudi journalist Fawaz Turki was dismissed for publishing a column on the atrocities of Indonesia during its 1975–1999 occupation of East Timor.[26] It was also reported that Turki had been previously warned by related Saudi authorities to stop his criticisms about Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.[27]
In February 2018, Arab News launched a digital Pakistani edition, called Arab News Pakistan, headquartered in Islamabad.[29]
In October 2019, Arab News launched a digital Japanese edition, called Arab News Japan, publishing in English and Japanese languages as the first middle east media outlet in Japan.[30]
Sultan bin Salman Al Saud is a Saudi prince and former Royal Saudi Air Force pilot who flew aboard the American STS-51-G Space Shuttle mission as a payload specialist. He is the first member of a royal family to fly in space, the first Arab to fly in space, and the first Muslim to fly in space, as well as the youngest person ever to fly on the Space Shuttle. On 27 December 2018, he was appointed as chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Space Commission at the rank of minister. He is the eldest surviving son of King Salman.
Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is King of Saudi Arabia, reigning since 2015 and had previously served as Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 2015 to 2022. The 25th son of King Abdulaziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia, he assumed the throne on 23 January 2015. Prior to his accession, he was Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia from 18 June 2012 to 23 January 2015. Salman is the third oldest living head of state, the oldest living monarch, and Saudi Arabia's first head of state born after the unification of Saudi Arabia. He has a reported personal wealth of at least $18 billion, which makes him the third wealthiest royal in the world and one of the wealthiest individuals in the world.
Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud is a Saudi Arabian politician, artist, and poet who is the governor of Makkah Province, in office from 2007 to 2013 and again since 2015. He was the Saudi minister of education from 2013 to 2015. He was also the governor of Asir Province from 1971 to 2007. He served as the adviser to King Salman.
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Turki I bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was the eldest son of the Emir of Nejd and his second wife, Wadha bint Muhammad Al Orair. He was his father's heir apparent from 1902 to 1919. Turki accompanied his father during the conquest of the Arabian Peninsula at a young age and witnessed battles in Kuwait and Al Hasa. He died in the 1918–19 flu pandemic, which also killed many others in the region. His younger brother Saud replaced him as heir apparent.
Bandar bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was the tenth son of King Abdulaziz. At the time of his death, he was the eldest surviving member of the ruling branch of the House of Saud.
Turki bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was a Saudi Arabian politician and businessman. A member of the House of Saud, he was the full brother of King Fahd and King Salman.
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Ahmed bin Salman Al Saud was a Saudi royal and media executive who was also a major figure in international thoroughbred horse racing. He was the third son of Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, then governor of Riyadh and current king of Saudi Arabia.
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Al Riyadh is a Riyadh-based, pro-government Saudi daily newspaper. Its sister paper was Riyadh Daily that was in circulation between 2003 and 1 January 2004. Al Riyadh is one of the dominant papers in Nejd.
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Saudi Research and Media Group (SRMG) is a Saudi state-backed media company registered in Riyadh. The group mainly publishes, prints and distributes various publications. The company operates in Saudi Arabia where there are no independent media.
Abdullah bin Faisal Al Saud is a Saudi royal and government official who served as the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States from October 2015 to April 2017.
Turki bin Salman Al Saud is a Saudi prince and businessman who is the chairman of Tharawat Holding Company. On 9 February 2013 he was appointed chairman of the Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG) and served in the post until 6 April 2014.
Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud (1875–1953), the founder and first king of Saudi Arabia, also called Ibn Saud, was very young when he first got married. However, his wife died shortly after their marriage. Ibn Saud remarried at eighteen and his firstborn child was Prince Turki I. He had 45 sons of whom 36 survived to adulthood and had children of their own. He also had many daughters. He is thought to have had 22 wives.
↑ "Khashoggi, Jamal". Biographical Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa. 1 January 2008. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
1 2 Alterman, Jon B. (1998). "New Media New Politics?"(PDF). The Washington Institute. 48. Archived from the original(PDF) on 13 May 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2013. ()
↑ Abu Alsamh, Rasheed (13 September 2002). "The good that's coming from Sept. 11". Arab News. Riyadh: Saudi Research and Publishing Company. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
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