Sunday, April 10, 2016

journalism at Saudi regime media: the example of Al-Hayat

This is rather classic.  Columnist and former editor-in-chief of the mouthpiece of King Salman, Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat, and former editor-in-chief of the mouthpiece of Prince Khalid bin Sultan, Al-Hayat, explains how journalism works at those shops.  He explains how he once asked the then director of Saudi intelligence apparatus, Turki Al-Faysal, for information on Taliban, and that "I received a response in three pages with information, which later was edited and rephrased by colleague Samir Saadawi and were published in Al-Hayat [as articles]."  Kid you not.

وأرسلت الى الأمير تركي الفيصل رسالة بالفاكس طلباً لمزيد من المعلومات عنهم وتلقيت رداً عليّ رسالة من ثلاث صفحات ضمّت معلومات أعاد الزميل سمير السعداوي صياغتها ونشرتها «الحياة».