The Ministry of Information and Culture is planning to improve electronic journalism as part of its new plan to promote e-media. Saudi journalists interested in e-journalism are supporting the creation of an official electronic newspaper industry, but they need an official decision before they can take their first step. “There is no professional electronic newspaper in the Kingdom. Most Arabic newspapers have launched an official website in order to keep pace with the evolution of electronic journalism, but these websites are still very poor and do not employ the techniques that should be used in an electronic newspaper,” said Sara Al-Etaibi, Editor-in-Chief of Saudi Specialized Publishing Company. Such websites were launched only to promote the newspaper itself. “The phenomenon of having an official website for each newspaper is really only an attempt to fight the creation of an electronic newspaper industry,” said Abdullah Balbaid, Editor-in-Chief of Radians Information Network. “E-journalism has been around since the late 1990s, but it has never had any official approval. The former Minister of Information and Culture described it as a phenomenon that needed to be discussed,” he added. According to Balbaid, developing e-journalism is still considered a risk by some, especially as there is no clear definition of journalists' rights and responsibilities. The ministry is planning to develop e-media as part of the Dr. Abdul Aziz Khoja's plan to develop Saudi media. “The ministry issued its new plan to promote e-media by providing a system of regulation in cooperation with the Arab Media Standing Committee. This system will make clear the rules under which e-journalism can operate,” said Abdurrahman Al-Hazza'a, senior official in the ministry. Saudi journalists have asked for an updating of Saudi media in which the launching of e-journalism will be an important step in the world of e-media. “For e-journalism to be a success, new technology has to be applied, such as, videos, sound files, multimedia services, chat rooms, and facilities for readers to leave messages,” said Al-Etaibi. Balbaid agreed that there was a need to utilize new technological services.
