RIYADH, 15 May 2008 — The Saudi Research & Marketing Group (SRMG) honored Khaled Almaeena on Tuesday for completing 10 years as editor in chief of Arab News and appreciated his outstanding contributions to the development of the English language daily.
“The honor came in appreciation from SRMG Chairman Prince Faisal bin Salman and the group for the contributions made by Almaeena during this period,” an official statement issued by the group said.
“During his time as editor in chief, Arab News made remarkable strides in terms of editorial activities and this has been confirmed by its winning of top place in an independent survey conducted among English language newspaper readers in the Gulf,” the statement said.
Arab News came first in a poll of readers’ favorite English language newspapers in the Gulf, conducted by ArabianBusiness.com, winning 26.49 percent of votes.
The statement also underscored the tremendous popularity achieved by the newspaper’s online edition, which receives more than one million hits daily from visitors worldwide. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Nizar Obaid Madani and a large number of officials and media persons attended the reception held in Almaeena’s honor.
Almaeena joined the Saudi Research & Publishing Company in 1982 and served as editor in chief of Arab News during his first term with the company until 1993, when he was appointed CEO of Saudi Public Relations Company, a subsidiary of the group. In 1998 he returned to Arab News as editor in chief and has held the position since.
