RIYADH, 3 July 2006 — Three European journalists, who have been in the Kingdom for over six months, believe that Saudis stand to gain a lot by learning foreign languages in line with the international trend among youngsters abroad.
“As the concept of the global village gains a strong foothold, multilingualism will be the wave of the future,” said Spanish journalist Maria Casilda Uriarte while speaking to Arab News.
Maria is one of three young European journalists working on the Saudi National Day (Sept. 23) supplement in the British right-wing newspaper The Daily Telegraph. The other two are Philippe van Maldeghem from Belgium and Manuel Baselga, a Spaniard. The three journalists work for an independent London-based publishing group called P.M. Communications, which has a contract with The Daily Telegraph to produce supplements.
Together, they have produced dozens of supplements for The Daily Telegraph and other European newspapers on the national days of countries in Europe, Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia as well as the Far East. The journalists believe their multilingual skills have placed them in a good stead, something they feel young Saudis should take note of.
As a native Spaniard, Maria speaks Spanish but considers French to be her first language because she went to a French school. As a daughter of a diplomat, she has traveled the world and visited Mozambique, Japan, Thailand, Ivory Coast, Australia and the US among many other countries. Apart from Spanish and French, she also fluently speaks Italian, Portuguese and English, as well as a little Japanese and Swahili because of her husband who is a prominent Kenyan businessman. Maria has been working as a journalist for the past five years.
Philippe, who was the first to arrive in the Kingdom eight months ago, has been working as editorial director for the project. He was subsequently joined by Maria as project director and Manuel as managing assistant. They have spent a period ranging from four to eight months during which they have interviewed Saudi ministers and their deputies as well as the CEOs of leading public and private-sector organizations.
Philippe said P.M. Communications is one of the several media agencies in Britain that employs multilingual journalists to work with English and European dailies on supplements. Philippe said what gives journalists a distinct advantage is the fact that whereas no single newspaper can allow its own journalist to spend a long time away from the editorial office, there are no such restrictions on journalists attached to specialized communication companies like PMC.
Maria said learning multiple languages was a common trend among Europeans. “If you speak three languages you are trilingual, if you speak two languages you are bilingual and if you speak one language you are either American or English,” she said.
According to her, Saudi women are eager to learn about other countries and are inquisitive of the impressions that foreign women have about Saudi Arabia. They are also aware of the challenges ahead.
Both Philippe and Manuel said their interactions with ministers and CEOs of major companies had helped them gain a better understanding of the Saudi economic system and the efforts of the government to attract foreign direct investment. The image of the Saudi economy that comes across as a result of their extensive travel within the Kingdom is a lot different from the distorted image projected by the international media.
Philippe, who has traveled extensively in several countries from four continents, said international exposure opens up one’s eyes. “You get to know the facts on the ground. Otherwise, you are influenced by the distorted image to which you are exposed through the international media. For example, the fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is only confined to the region up north. It is 3,000 km away from Kinshasa, the capital,” she said.
He asks: “Why should the people of Kinshasa suffer a bad image when only a small segment of the population up north is involved in acts of violence. Similarly, the mining zone is mainly in the south. Many mining firms from different countries are mining there and adding value to the economy by building a factory and exporting the minerals. But when a country gets a negative image through the media, you don’t find partners to work with. So the media can play an important by raising awareness through responsible reporting.”
Philippe said The Daily Telegraph has 2.4 million readers. “So the quality of a newspaper makes it an interesting tool in conveying a message to the international audience, especially the intelligentsia and the decision-makers, CEOs of national and international companies who are always looking for business opportunities. A country should also try to brand itself through advertising its products and services. It is very important in the context of today’s environment of the global village.”
Philippe did his master’s in international relations in his home country, Belgium. He has been traveling ever since, having spent significant periods of time in places such as Angola, California, Puerto Rico, Japan, Italy and Mexico. This is why he speaks fluent Italian, Spanish, English and Portuguese, apart from French and Flemish.
Manuel said many countries were not aware of the fact that the Gulf states have come a long way in opening up their economies as part of the economic reforms program. “I saw the openness of the Saudi people. On the economic front, they are revamping the whole economic system to attract FDI.”
He continued: “I haven’t enjoyed an exotic and interesting life as my other colleagues. Apart from my native Spanish, I only speak English and a bit of Italian. I lived in Venezuela for some years during my childhood, where I went to an American school. Most recently, my job has taken me to places like Malaysia and Vietnam. I worked for a marketing company in Madrid before this, just six months ago.”
The Daily Telegraph is one of Britain’s leading right-wing pro-Zionist broadsheet newspaper owned by the Barclay brothers. Until 2004 the shamed Canadian businessman Lord Conrad Black owned the newspaper whose sister publications include various newspapers from across North America and Israel including The Chicago Sun-Times, The Jerusalem Post and The Spectator magazine. Columnists for the newspaper include pro-Zionist Islamophobes such as Mark Steyn, Charles Moore and Barbara Amiel.
