08 November 2013
According to statistics, there are at least nine million expatriates in the Kingdom including at least five million non-Arabs. A quarter or more of these are fluent in English, and undoubtedly, they follow the local English language media. This may be the only source of information they have on what is going on around them as far as local culture, news and government decisions are concerned. There are three English-language media outlets in Saudi Arabia, the two newspapers Saudi Gazette and Arab News and Saudi TV Channel Two.
The two newspapers and the TV channel know the importance of presenting news and should be providing details of local events. However, this is not always the case. The 4th Conference for Saudi Litterateurs held in Madinah in late August is an example. I was one of the guests at the three-day conference. I read the two newspapers daily in the hope that I would find news about this important literary and cultural event. However, all I found was one picture on the inauguration ceremony and two lines indicating that there was a conference for men of letters in Madinah under the auspices of the Emir of the region and in the presence of the Minister of Culture and Information. This was all that was published!
The newspapers did not provide enough space to cover the conference, the participants, the subjects tabled, the recommendations or any information that could be presented to English-speaking readers despite the importance of the conference. Even Channel Two did not provide sufficient attention to this cultural event.
Furthermore, when several women in Al-Qassim region staged a demonstration demanding the release of detainees being held on terror charges, a story was published stating only that there had been a demonstration. The story said that security men dealt with the situation as required, but it did not deal with the reasons for the demonstration in the way that Arabic newspapers did.
I imagined myself as a non-Arabic speaking person living in the Kingdom and reading such a story. It would appear to me that there were a number of women and children in the street, but what these women were demanding and who had been detained and why would not be clear.
With regard to the attempt that took place to disrupt Souk Okaz when the Tunisian poetess Jamilah Al-Majri started recited her poems, only a small story was published without any details about what had happened.
Saudi TV Channel Two is not carrying out its enlightenment role as required with regard to the selection of topics and the coverage of different events in the Kingdom. All of us realize that others watch and read what the foreign media carry. One of the employees in the secretariat of the European Commission told me that there is a special department for monitoring all that is written in the newspapers or that is said on Saudi TV channels. It seems that developing the programs for Channel Two is a matter that requires reconsideration. Those working for the channel should be informed that what is presented at present is far below what is required from them.
According to statistics, there are at least nine million expatriates in the Kingdom including at least five million non-Arabs. A quarter or more of these are fluent in English, and undoubtedly, they follow the local English language media. This may be the only source of information they have on what is going on around them as far as local culture, news and government decisions are concerned. There are three English-language media outlets in Saudi Arabia, the two newspapers Saudi Gazette and Arab News and Saudi TV Channel Two.
The two newspapers and the TV channel know the importance of presenting news and should be providing details of local events. However, this is not always the case. The 4th Conference for Saudi Litterateurs held in Madinah in late August is an example. I was one of the guests at the three-day conference. I read the two newspapers daily in the hope that I would find news about this important literary and cultural event. However, all I found was one picture on the inauguration ceremony and two lines indicating that there was a conference for men of letters in Madinah under the auspices of the Emir of the region and in the presence of the Minister of Culture and Information. This was all that was published!
The newspapers did not provide enough space to cover the conference, the participants, the subjects tabled, the recommendations or any information that could be presented to English-speaking readers despite the importance of the conference. Even Channel Two did not provide sufficient attention to this cultural event.
Furthermore, when several women in Al-Qassim region staged a demonstration demanding the release of detainees being held on terror charges, a story was published stating only that there had been a demonstration. The story said that security men dealt with the situation as required, but it did not deal with the reasons for the demonstration in the way that Arabic newspapers did.
I imagined myself as a non-Arabic speaking person living in the Kingdom and reading such a story. It would appear to me that there were a number of women and children in the street, but what these women were demanding and who had been detained and why would not be clear.
With regard to the attempt that took place to disrupt Souk Okaz when the Tunisian poetess Jamilah Al-Majri started recited her poems, only a small story was published without any details about what had happened.
Saudi TV Channel Two is not carrying out its enlightenment role as required with regard to the selection of topics and the coverage of different events in the Kingdom. All of us realize that others watch and read what the foreign media carry. One of the employees in the secretariat of the European Commission told me that there is a special department for monitoring all that is written in the newspapers or that is said on Saudi TV channels. It seems that developing the programs for Channel Two is a matter that requires reconsideration. Those working for the channel should be informed that what is presented at present is far below what is required from them.
© The Saudi Gazette 2013
