Faleh Al-Dhibyani Okaz newspaper The requirement that all of the Kingdom's ministries and government departments appoint media spokesmen has resulted in a real problem: Instead of providing correct and clear information, the spokesmen have distorted factual information and left citizens with even more unanswered questions. In the hectic race to appoint spokesmen, some ministries appointed people who have no knowledge whatsoever of the media and, as a result, many of them are unable to communicate with decision makers so they can answer queries raised by citizens. It has become common practice for spokesmen to do one of two things — outright deny something or provide very little information. Amid the flurry of unanswered questions, people at the top of the authority are cutting themselves off from the daily concerns of citizens. They want to enjoy the quietness and cool air of their offices away from any headaches that might be caused by citizens. Simply put, officials in charge are unwilling or unable to address the concerns of citizens and are wrongly living under the notion that the information, facts and figures they have are confidential and should not be revealed to anyone. A healthy relationship between the citizens and officials cannot be built if the correct information is kept secret. Media spokesmen should be competent and qualified to answer citizens' questions and the official in charge, whether a minister or other senior official, should come out in the open and directly talk to the people in lucid language. Decision makers should realize that the time of feeding citizens incorrect information is past and that Saudis are more in touch with reality and aware of what is going on around them than ever before.
