The Saudi press is thriving in a spring of prosperity. The Saudi Media knows no other seasons than the spring, where leaves never fall, hot summers never come, and harsh winters are always absent. What a spring-loving media it is! The Saudi press is free, unrestrained and unquestioned by anyone, its achievements are great and many, and God forbid that they may ever err. This is what some Saudi journalists are almost saying, after Reporters without Borders published its most recent annual report, and which placed Saudi Arabia in terms of media freedoms at a low rank. I was thus bewildered by how some colleagues raised the banner of blame so quickly against the above-mentioned report, as if the organization had committed a great sin and a great crime, to the extent that some of them have actually said that they did not read the report in full, as they argued that they are defending the Saudi media because they are strictly motivated by their patriotism, and as if Saudi Arabia was the only country in the region to receive a low rank, or as if the Saudi journalists write everything they are aware of! The truth is that the Saudi media does not enjoy an absolute freedom, but one must say that it has been making some good strides towards that in the recent years. This media in fact has risen up in an attempt to win a part of its professional freedom, owing to the clear policies of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques His Royal Highness King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz, who gave the green light to the media and the journalists to start carrying out their mission in the press, after having approved a package of reforms that boost the freedom of the media. I believe that the Saudi media is not daring, and that its boldness is rather calculated; one may even describe it as a “cautious” media, especially when, in the past, it used to walk along a tightrope. This is because this media was facing momentous challenges and difficulties in many different eras; but having managed to overcome some of these in peace, the Saudi media has recently appeared much more audacious, brighter, and more able to tackle certain social issues which have been hitherto suppressed along with other phenomena that were practically a “red line”. I wish that the Kingdom ranked first in the Reporters without Borders report, but the fact of the matter remains different. This is because the standards followed by this organization are different from what the colleagues were portraying. As such, those who were trying to criticize the report should have instead asked themselves about the magnitude of the difficulties facing the work of the media within Saudi Arabia, especially those that are not related to the government, and which are rather linked to the society's sensitivities, nature, customs, traditions and social identity. Also, why do those colleagues not ask themselves: weren't there fatwa issues that declare certain writers and journalists blasphemous and call for their execution? Weren't there sentences of flogging made against writers and journalists in matters of opinion, which would have been carried out had it not been for the interference of King Abdullah years ago, when he gave the order of deferring all publication cases to a specialized committee at the Ministry of Information? Were this very newspaper and other papers not been banned in earlier times? Were editors-in-chief not been dismissed from their jobs before, because of what has been published in their newspapers? Are there not red lines up until this very day that cannot be crossed? There is no doubt that the future indicators of the Saudi media betray a more positive image. For instance, the opinion editorialists can now manage to breathe more through their writings, and are now writing and criticizing in a clearly free manner that many other countries lack. According to my knowledge, no one has been prevented from writing ever since His Royal Highness King Abdullah stepped to the Saudi throne in August 2005; rather, he always reiterates to the journalists: “Write and criticize, while ensuring that you write the truth while following the ethos of credibility, objectivity and integrity in everything”. In Moscow, His Highness the Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz told the journalists who accompanied him during his visit to Russia two years ago (including me): “constructive and purposeful criticism that is aimed at addressing faults, and not at stirring confusion and excitement, does not anger us”. He then added: “You are the eyes of the state, and everything you write about, be it news or reports will prompt us to investigate and ask about [the faults you criticize]”. As for the Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior His Highness Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz, he is a man who is often surrounded by journalists who ask him direct and tough questions during press conferences; yet, he never ignores them and does not choose not to answer them, and what is more, journalists call him to his office and to his home where he answers their queries. He always says: “we have nothing to hide” and all what he asks of the media is for it to be credible and honest. Thus, the problem that is facing the Saudi media, I think, lies in the mentality of some of the journalists working in this media, in addition to the mentality of those who proclaim themselves to be more knowledgeable than others, and of some of the ministers and officials who ignore the value of the media and question everything that the press publishes. As such, they incessantly complain about this media and call for further restraints against it, in order for it not to continue exposing the incompetence of their apparatuses, and their lack of both readiness and ability to progress. In Saudi Arabia, there is a press association upon which many are counting a great deal, but whose performance is still unsteady and almost not present. This is regardless of the fact that I am one of its new board members, since it is yet to offer something tangible for the journalists and for the concerned international organizations. As such, this association is still being expected to implement some moves towards improving the conditions of the press, in addition to defending the rights of journalists, developing dynamic new plans to advance media work, and participating in overcoming the obstacles facing the journalists. What is certain is that once the media in Saudi Arabia is dealt with as being independent, as being the eyes of both the state and the society, and as an entity that does not modify the laws but rather encourage reforms and detects errors and negativities... Once this happens, we will have an “influential” press that does not heed any foreign reports, and which will benefit both the government and the society and help them choose what is best for humanity, because “the time of concealments is over in the era of the colossal progresses in sciences, technology, commutations, space and the internet”.
