MINA, 9 January 2006 — Over 100 media organizations representing 56 countries have converged on Mina to provide live coverage of the annual Haj pilgrimage. In addition to media from outside the Kingdom, four Saudi TV channels — Channel 1, Channel 2, Al-Ekhbariya and Sports Channel — will cover the Haj live and transmit programs to Arab and Islamic countries, Minister of Information and Culture Iyad Madani said.
They will also feed to some international channels and newspapers, Madani added.
The minister said, “A specialized international company has been contracted by the ministry to produce and transmit various Haj programs around the world.”
The Haj is of course based on devotion, but faith alone cannot make it happen. For the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Haj is both a sacred trust and a logistical challenge which keeps its organizers busy year-round, the minister explained.
The Ministry of Information has made necessary arrangements in order to provide required facilities for the media. Work teams have been formed and information centers established at Makkah, Madinah, Mina and Arafat. This year media field visits have been scheduled so that reporters can see the expansion of the two holy mosques, the projects at the holy sites, and the facilities provided by the government for pilgrims.
Prince Turki ibn Sultan, assistant minister of culture and information, visited the media center in Arafat to review the arrangements.
For the 9th consecutive year, CNN will present in-depth, live Haj coverage. In addition, the BBC, Al-Jazeera, India’s Sahara TV, ABC, Associated Press, AFP, Reuters and many others are covering the event. Over 500 mediapersons are present. All of them have a single objective which is to provide viewers with excellent and memorable glimpses of this journey of a lifetime.
CNN anchor Hala Gorani will present live updates and reports from the Haj for six days beginning today. CNN will also broadcast a half-hour special presented by Zain Verjee, “Haj: The Essential Journey” on Saturday 2:30 p.m. Rena Golden, senior vice president of CNN International, pointed out, “The Haj is a deeply personal journey for those who perform it but also an event of global significance for more than one billion Muslims around the world. This coverage, which represents a significant logistical operation for CNN, reflects our commitment to the region and to offering our viewers unrivaled coverage of world events.”
The Haj is an awe-inspiring experience and a vital antidote to the rampaging materialism taking over our lives, Jihad Khalid of Egypt’s Al-Ahram newspaper said.
For a Bangladeshi journalist the experience was extraordinary. “One of the most amazing things is to see how prayer time changes the city. It becomes serene and completely silent. Every single street is filled with people and prayer mats for as far as the eye can see. Two million people, praying and kneeling at the same time is one of the most moving images conceivable,” said Belal Hossain of the Dhaka Times.
