As I grew, my father would always ask us at lunchtime, what were the main headlines in the paper. To be honest, as kids half the time, we didn’t know, but it was his constant questions and his encouragement that made us all good readers, and allowed us to continue our education and higher education. I speak on behalf of my siblings on how the “Green Truth” affected our lives personally and shaped who we are today.

I was affected by most of the global events that any child would sense at home even if he or she didn’t understand them; I was affected by these events on a personal level because that meant that I would not be seeing much of my father as he would be on call day and night at the Arab News building in Al-Faisaliah and Al-Rawdah districts on many occasions.

When the 1982 Lebanon invasion occurred, I was only six years old, but I still remember. I have vague memories of our family sitting close to the phone, following the latest developments from my father who was in office and how intense they both felt about the Israeli aggression.

When I was 15, I remember the Gulf War — the sirens, the fear of the unknown, the “drama” for us youngsters when we were taping the windows all over our house in fear of Scud missiles and explosions shattering the glass. The Arab News team was made up of brave journalists in the line of fire. Arab News was the first newspaper to make it to Kuwait. My father would be with us on the phone, saying he was in the Eastern Province and for us not to worry. We would later learn he was in Kuwait frontlines — exposed when his corresponding news coverage on the front pages carried his name and location.

I have awoken occasionally in the middle of the night, to hear my father giving live interviews to channels all over the world. He not only contributes to the popular channels like CNN, BBC, NPR but even the less-popular local channels around the globe. I believe he does that because he believes in Arab News and what the paper stands for — no matter what others might think. Success will always have enemies, especially when it becomes the voice of the Arab and Muslim world.

I was studying in the United States during 1995 and 2001. Sharing and investigating cultural studies and experiences were encouraged by professors in various fields, such as political science, communication, religion and cultural studies.

One of the very few reliable and accurate references or opinions for any information related to Saudi Arabia online were found in Arab News articles, which were on the Arab View website at the time.

When 15 names and nationalities of the 19 suicide bombers in the 9/11 attacks were announced to be Saudi, thousands of hate mail were being sent to Arab News. The newspaper created a team to not just counter these e-mails but to communicate a true and positive, moderate image of Saudi Arabia. It aimed to clear many stereotypes and generalizations about the Saudi people and surely contributed toward that goal.

I am currently director of Jeddah United Sports Co. and captain of the women’s basketball division. Our company is the first sports company in Saudi Arabia that trains hundreds of girls and boys in different sports and organizes sports events and tournaments to promote the culture of athletics, good sportsmanship and healthy lifestyles.

We grew from a small women’s basketball team in 2003, to a company that trains kids from four years old to 64 years old and deals with the most prestigious federations in the world like the NBA and WNBA. We also partner with global enterprises like Mazda, Pepsi-Cola, and Aramex.

As recently as 2006, when I used to send press releases to the local newspapers about our Jeddah United women’s basketball team and its achievements, not one newspaper agreed to publish them because they considered women’s sports still a taboo, but that wasn’t the case for Arab News.

I realized through my position and experience in sports how much Arab News has contributed to the sports industry in the Kingdom from covering and highlighting sport news and activities to sponsoring and endorsing sports icons, activities and events.

Arab News kept us up to date with international sports events — Wimbledon, the US Open, the Olympics, Super Bowl, World Cup and a host of other events.

Until 1995, many US graduates and expatriates living in the Kingdom who followed the NFL and NBA in the US waited impatiently to buy Arab News and read about the Super Bowl or playoffs before satellite TV was readily available to everyone. They enthusiastically followed the games of their favorite teams in their home country. Arab News has also brought the international communities together by sponsoring many sports events in Saudi Arabia including tennis, squash and basketball. The paper has endorsed sports icons like Mohammad Ali, Imran Khan, and nine-time world squash champion Jahangir Khan who visited the Kingdom regularly in the 1980s and 1990s. Farouq Alzoman, the first Saudi to climb Mount Everest in 2008,  also made the front page. We became familiar with many names like Steffi Graf, Pete Sampras, Martina Hingis, Jimmy Connors, David Beckham, Niki Lauda and now Tiger Woods along with many others. When I look back at our family, I realize that there were many sacrifices in the past, but those sacrifices paid off, and I have inherited something as a child. Now, I teach my seven-year-old to read headlines now and then. It is probably not the most fun thing for her to do at this point of her life, but I know that one day she will be very grateful.

Arab News has gone a long way indeed, and on its 35th anniversary, I would like to thank Arab News for the impact it has had on my personal life and my career path, and I hope that 35 years from now, our sports, as well as our social initiatives, will have contributed in creating a healthy, knowledgeable, educated, progressive and proud generation.