Arab News has come a long way since its modest launch in April 1975. It is now the main window on Saudi Arabia for the outside world, and the best-read and by far the most quoted English language daily newspaper published in the Middle East.
Originally designed as a tabloid to cater to the needs of the large expatriate population who had flocked to the country to help in the Kingdom’s monumental development programs during the oil boom, Arab News gradually transformed itself into a strong regional newspaper which voiced the concerns and aspirations especially of Saudi Arabia and its people.
It is now printed simultaneously in the Kingdom’s three main cities, and is among the highest circulating Saudi dailies. Its website (www.arabnews.com) has taken on a whole life of its own, peaking at an extraordinary 2.5 million hits in a single day during the Iraq war. Arab News articles and editorials are reprinted from it on a daily basis by hundreds of respected news outlets the world over. It is also a valued source of information for countless TV and radio stations.
Arab News has nurtured many excellent Saudi journalists, a number of whom went on to make their name in the international media. It was the first newspaper to enter liberated Kuwait in 1991 and, during the US-led war on Iraq, its war correspondents were among the first independent reporters to enter war-torn Baghdad. They also went down in history as the first Saudis to do so.
These many firsts for Arab News are the result of a clear vision on the newspaper to excel in every field, and an acceptance on the part of its many editors and journalists over the years to embrace new challenges.
Today we reach another milestone by going color. For Arab News, this represents a great deal more than superficial spice. It should be seen as part of the newspaper’s philosophy, the central goal of which is to provide the best possible coverage to our readers that is both accurate and comprehensive.
Our efforts to become bigger and better will continue in the future with the addition of color tabloid sections in September.
And as always, we look forward to our readers’ views and comments so that we can make Arab News a newspaper of which we can all be proud.
