Arab News in the Philippines

Arab News is an English-language daily newspaper published in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The paper is published in a broadsheet format. Its target audiences are businesspeople, executives and diplomats.^[1]

History

Arab News was founded in Jeddah on 20 April 1975 by Hisham Hafiz and his brother Mohammad Hafiz. It was the first English-language daily newspaper published in Saudi Arabia. Arab News is also the first publication of SRPC.^[1]

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.^[1]

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. 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.^[1]

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; 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.^[1]

Content

Arab News offers a variety of news ranging from politics and finance to sports and social events. It published an op-ed written on the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks by Rasheed Abu Alsamh who commented:^[1]

Criticism

The newspaper has been described as "a mouthpiece for the Saudi regime" by Qatari-owned The New Arab, and regarded as "reflecting official Saudi Arabian government position" by the Associated Press and Haaretz.^[1]

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.^[1]

Distribution and international editions

In addition to its domestic distribution in Saudi Arabia, Arab News is planning wide range of international distribution, including United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Pakistan, Oman, Near East, North Africa, Europe and the United States.^[1]