Al Riyadh (newspaper)

Al Riyadh
الرياض
Type Daily newspaper
Format Broadsheet
Owner(s) Al Yamamah Press Establishment
Publisher Al Yamamah Press Establishment
Editor-in-chief Turki Al Sudairi
Associate editor Yousuf Al Kuwailit[1]
Managing editors Nawal Al Rashed (for women section)[2]
Founded 11 May 1965 (1965-05-11)
Political alignment Pro-government
Language Arabic
Headquarters Riyadh
Circulation 150,000 (2007)
OCLC number 12593490
Website Arabic website
English website

Al Riyadh (in Arabic الرياض) is a Riyadh-based, pro-government Saudi daily newspaper. Its sister paper was Riyadh Daily that was disestablished on 1 January 2004.[3] Al Riyadh is one of the dominant papers in Nejd.[4]

History and ownership

Al Riyadh is the first daily newspaper that was published in Arabic in Riyadh.[5] Its first issue was published on 11 May 1965 with a limited number of pages.[6] Later, it became a daily publication with 52 pages, 32 pages of which were colored pages.[6] Its current issues are with 80-100 pages.[5][6] The paper is published in broadsheet format.[7]

Al Riyadh is also pioneer in other aspects. It is the first Saudi paper that included caricatures which were drawn by Ali Kharjy, a then-leading caricaturist. It is argued that Al Riyadh gained popularity among the public due to these caricatures at the end of the 1960s.[8] Al Riyadh is also the first Saudi newspaper to open a women's bureau.[9]

Al Riyadh is owned and published by Al Yamamah Press Establishment.[7] The company is also the publisher of weekly magazine Al Yamamah.[6][10]

Political approach

Al Riyadh is officially independent because it is being published by a private company.[11][12] However, the World Association of Newspapers considered the paper to be under the direct influence of the then Crown Prince Salman.[11] The association also regards Al Riyadh as a semi-official newspaper.[11] It is further argued that the paper presents relatively conservative attitude and praises House of Saud as many of the other Saudi daily papers.[13] Although Al Riyadh is usually regarded as a pro-government newspaper, it expresses relatively liberal views. Additionally, it publishes very influential editorials, if one wants to have good insight into what the Saudi official view on different matters.[14]

Content

Al Riyadh employs the following news feeds: AFP Arabic, AFP Sports, AP, DPA Arabic, GPA Arabic, Kuwait News Agency Arabic, MENA Arabic, QNA Arabic, Saudi Press Agency Arabic, Reuters Arabic, Reuters Photos, Reuters Graphics, RSS news, and full-body feeds from PR Newswire, GNN Network and CCN Matthews.[15] The paper heavily covers the news regarding political, social, religious, economic and cultural events. It also provides its readers with sports news.[8]

Turki Al Sudairi, the chief editor of the paper, argued in December 2011 that Iran was much more dangerous threat for Saudi Arabia than Israel, since the latter's enmity is limited to Palestinians.[1] On 23 March 2012 Yousuf Al Kuwailit, the associate editor of Al Riyadh, questioned the Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov's stance concerning Syrian uprising and stated that Lavrov did not seem to be aware of the fact that Sunnis are the majority in Syria. Al Kuwailit further claimed that Lavrov had sided with the devil in this regard.[16]

In March 2013, the then Lebanese foreign minister Adnan Mansour publicly argued that the Arab League should reinstate Syria's membership.[17] After this declaration, Al Riyadh described Mansour as "the foreign minister of the terrorist Amal Movement," due to Mansour's close relations with the Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who is also the leader of the Amal.[17] The daily further claimed that Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, is "a terrorist".[17]

Influence

Al Riyadh is regarded as one of the major daily newspapers published in Saudi Arabia. The others are Al Watan, Al Madina and Al Jazirah.[13] Al Riyadh competed with Al Jazirah for influence in Najd and each claimed to be a larger and more influential paper than the other at the beginning of the 1990s.[9]

Al Riyadh is described as one of the most respected dailies for local and regional news.[18] The paper is also considered as a national general interest, well-established, respected and independent daily newspaper.[19]

Since Al Riyadh is edited and published in Riyadh, its target population is government officials, military officials, professionals, academics, businesspeople.[8]

Prominent columnists

The chief editor of the paper is Turki Al Sudairi for a long time.[6][9] He is considered to be the most influential newspaper editor in Saudi Arabia.[20] He is also regarded as a pro-government editor.[21] Al Sudairi has been the chairman of the Saudi Journalists Association (SJA) for a long time, and he was elected again for the post on 17 May 2012.[2]

Sultan Al Bazie who is the executive vice president of International Public Relations Association-Gulf Chapter (IPRA GC) and co-founder CEO of Attariq Communications was formerly a reporter and managing editor for Al Riyadh.[22] Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al Uqaili who was the deputy chief of Royal Protocol formerly served at the paper's political desk.[23]

Circulation and offices

The estimated circulation of Al Riyadh during the early 1990s was between 100,000 and 120,000 copies.[9] In 2001 the paper had a circulation of 121,000 copies, being the third best selling Saudi newspaper.[24] As for 2002, its estimated circulation was 91,000 copies.[25] The estimated circulation of the daily in 2003 was 170,000 copies, making it the largest newspaper in the country.[26] Arab Reform Bulletin gives its 2004 circulation as 170,000.[27] Its 2006 and 2007 circulations were reported to be 150,000 copies.[11][7] Global Investment House reported that Al Riyadh's 2009 market share is about 8.3%.[18]

The paper has a very impressive website, where readers can comment on articles.[14] The website won the digital excellence award in the second rank after Al Jazirah by the Saudi ministry of Communications and Information Technology in 2007.[28]

Al Riyadh has also an English-website which was the seventh top on-line newspaper among the fifty English-language online newspapers in the MENA region in 2010.[29] In 2011, it was again among top ten online newspapers, keeping its rank as the seventh.[30]

The paper's Arabic online version was the fifth most visited website for 2010 in the MENA region.[31] In 2012, it was again ranked to be the fifth in the MENA region by Forbes Middle East with 123.9 million hits.[32][33]

Al Riyadh has offices in many Saudi cities in addition to its editorial offices in Cairo and Beirut.[15]

See also

List of newspapers in Saudi Arabia

References

  1. 1 2 Yehoshua, Y. (23 December 2011). "Saudi Arabia cautiously Navigating Conflict with Iran amid Arab Spring Storm" (Inquiry and Analysis Series Report No.778). MEMRI. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  2. 1 2 Khalid Tawalheb (18 May 2012). "SJA board holds first meeting after elections". Arab News. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  3. ↑ "Saudi Arabia: Riyadh Daily has ceased publication". Publicitas. 29 December 2003. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  4. ↑ Tom Pierre Najem; Martin Hetherington, ed. (2003). Good Governance in the Middle East Oil Monarchies. New York: Routledge Courzon. p. 114. Retrieved 30 August 2013.  – via Questia (subscription required)
  5. 1 2 "Profile - Al Riyadh". Forbes Middle East. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Al Riyadh Newspaper". Al Riyadh (English). Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  7. 1 2 3 Anthony Shoult (1 May 2006). Doing Business with Saudi Arabia. GMB Publishing Ltd. p. 277. ISBN 978-1-905050-67-3. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 Abdulrahman S. Shobaili (1971). "An historical and analytical study of broadcasting and press in Saudi Arabia" (PDF). Ohio State University. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "The Saudi Press: Profiles of Individual Papers". Wikileaks. April 1991. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
  10. ↑ "Assets" (PDF). Dynagraph. 27 March 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Saudi Arabia. Media market description" (PDF). World Association of Newspapers. 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  12. ↑ Andrew Hammond (Fall 2007). "Saudi Arabia's media empire: Keeping the masses at home". Arab Media and Society. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  13. 1 2 "Arab media review. Anti-semitism and other trends" (PDF). Anti-Defamation League. July–December 2010. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  14. 1 2 "Saudi Arabia". Arab Press Network. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  15. 1 2 "Al Yamama Press Establishment, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia". Knowledge View. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  16. ↑ Varulkar, H. (4 April 2012). "Rising Tensions between Saudi Arabia, Russia on Backdrop of Syrian Crisis" (Inquiry and Analysis Series Report No.820). MEMRI. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  17. 1 2 3 "Riyadh renews commitment to Lebanon". The Daily Star. 11 March 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  18. 1 2 "Saudi Research and Marketing Group" (PDF). Global Investment House. November 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
  19. ↑ Riyadh "Al Riyadh" Check |url= value (help). Adnative. 2011. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  20. ↑ "Crown Prınce Sultan backs the Kıng ın famıly". Wikileaks. 12 February 2007. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  21. ↑ Joel Campagna (2006). "Saudi Arabia report: Princes, clerics, and censors". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  22. ↑ "Speakers". International Public Relations Association - Gulf Chapter (IPRA-GC). 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  23. ↑ "Al Uqaili made deputy chief of Royal Protocol". Saudi Gazette. 20 February 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  24. ↑ "World Press Trends" (PDF). World Association of Newspapers. Paris. 2004. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  25. ↑ "Saudi Arabia". Press Reference. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  26. ↑ William A. Rugh (2004). Arab Mass Media: Newspapers, Radio, and Television in Arab Politics. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-275-98212-6. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  27. ↑ "Statistics on Arab Media" (PDF). Arab Reform Bulletin 2 (11). December 2004.
  28. ↑ "Al Jazirah Newspaper website is the best". Topix. 11 November 2007. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  29. ↑ Samia Badih (28 October 2010). "Gulf News No. 1 English online paper in Mena". Gulf News. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  30. ↑ "Forbes Middle East unveils ranking of Top 63 online newspapers of the Arab world". Albawaba. 29 November 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  31. ↑ "Forbes Releases Top 50 MENA Online Newspapers; Lebanon Fails to Make Top 10". Jad Aoun. 28 October 2010. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  32. ↑ "Okaz jumps to sixth spot in Forbes ME rankings". Saudi Gazette (Dubai). 28 December 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
  33. ↑ ""Forbes" Crown "Al Riyadh" as Strongest Saudi online Newspaper". Al Riyadh. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
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