I read with great surprise the Third Annual International Report on Press Freedom. Issued by the organization Reporters Without Borders, it put Saudi Arabia after every other Arab counry named in the list. The Kingdom is ranked 159th — after Iran at 158, Syria 155 and Iraq 148. North Korea is at the absolute bottom of the list at 167.
The report says that in these countries “an independent media either does not exist or journalists are persecuted and censored on a daily basis. Freedom of information and the safety of journalists are not guaranteed.”
I don’t know what standards the organization uses to compile its reports. As a writer who has followed the progress of journalism in the Kingdom for more than 30 years and who feels he knows much about the press in this country, I can say unequivocally that the Saudi press has made a great deal of progress in terms of freedom over the past few years. It is true that this freedom falls short of the desires and expectations of most Saudi journalists and writers but this does not mean that no progress is being made. In comparing the Kingdom to other Arab countries, I don’t think a fair assessment would put the Kingdom at the bottom. There are Arab countries guilty of appalling human rights violations and this naturally includes curbs on freedom of expression.
The question is who is really behind the compiling of the reports and what criteria they follow. This is an extremely important thing since I doubt that the French sift through the Arabic press and news bulletins, reading and analyzing in order to produce an assessment on press freedom. Indeed, the French are helped by a group of Arab experts and intellectuals who are assigned this very job. What, I wonder, is the exact role of these Arab experts and intellectuals and to what extent do their views influence the report? I think the report is the product of these two ideas, written by economic opportunists and religious extremists.
