While traditional media outlets set out to inform people about the happenings in our world, the World Wide Web has become the place where we all share our views on those events. Launched in March 2006, www.SaudiDebate.com aims to provide an English language platform for a wide variety of thoughts on the issues, as well as a forum for discussion by all those involved and interested in Saudi Arabia, the Middle East and the Muslim world.
The response to the site has been good. SaudiDebate.com has already attracted several thousand unique users in over 40 countries. Fifty percent of the readers are in the US, with Saudi Arabia ranking fifth in the table of countries from which visitors have accessed the site.
“The geographic spread of readers is very interesting — it is truly global, which is very encouraging. The site has the promotion of reasoned discussion as its primary purpose,” said Mark Huband, a contributing writer and one of the founders of SaudiDebate.com.
According to Huband, the thought is that initially SaudiDebate.com will be a venue where good writers will have an opportunity to air their views and only later will it develop as a forum for debate. The debating forum at the site is designed so that it encourages debate about the subjects raised by the authors. The goal is that the debates should remain reasonably well-rooted in the articles rather than becoming “chatroom” debates and there is no particular intention to have writers facing each other “head to head.”
“Clearly there is sensitivity to writing about political, social and other issues, and we are very cognizant of this,” Huband said. “Whatever is written is treated with great care.”
