I don’t know why each time a columnist’s article fails to appear, readers think the writer has either been forbidden to write or is being interrogated about some earlier article. Some papers even contribute to the uncertainty in readers’ minds by giving them no information about the writer’s absence.
Maybe newspapers rate their writers based on the amount of material they produce. For a writer to qualify for a small note from the editor saying that the column did not appear because of an emergency, the editor must be a person capable of coming up with fresh ideas when needed. I must admit I do not belong to this category of writers. I can’t produce 20 and 30 articles in advance. There are writers, however, who have the ability to do this. It is no wonder that if an article fails to appear as usual, readers start wondering what has happened to the writer, has he been suspended, has he been summoned for questioning?
Over the past few days, pressing circumstances have forced me to travel outside the Kingdom. During that time, the press has dealt with a number of highly controversial matters. Because I was away, I could not contribute to the debate and was surprised to receive a flood of calls and messages, all asking what had happened that prevented me from writing. Of course, they all had one of the above explanations in their minds.
Had this happened a few years ago when press freedom was limited, the assumption that the writer might have been suspended or questioned about an article would have been a real possibility. Now, however, things are different and there is more room for discussion. I would not be exaggerating if I said that the degree of transparency enjoyed by our press at present far exceeds what is found in many countries that claim to have full freedom of the press.
The individuals who run and supervise the press are more open and receptive and are not oppressive as some might think. In short, I was neither subjected to investigation nor was I questioned about anything I had written. My absence was for personal reasons.
