Al Madina (newspaper)

History

Al Madina was founded as a weekly publication, under the name of Al Madinah al Munawarah (Arabic: Madinah the Radiant) by Hisham Hafiz's uncles, Othman and Ali Hafiz,{{cite book|author=David E. Long|title=Culture and customs of Saudi Arabia|year=2005

The publication of the paper was ceased during World War II which resumed following the war.{{cite thesis

It has offices in Dubai and Cairo, in addition to 18 branches inside Saudi Arabia. The estimated circulation of the paper in 2003 was 46,000 copies.

Political approach and contents

Every issue of Al Madina begins with the invocation of the name of the God. It is one of the pro-government newspapers in the country. However, Al Madina publishes critical coverage of non-political local news, such as social, health and educational issues and has relatively critical columnists, despite restraint in reporting or commenting on national politics.{{cite web|title=Saudi Arabia

''Al Madina'''s article about Avicenna dated 1964 caused a diplomatic crisis between Saudi Arabia and the Imperial Iran due to the fact that he was described by the paper as an Arab thinker. On 2 August 2017 the newspaper criticized many Arab states said to maintain relations with Israel but deny it, [although] these ties can hardly be denied given the existence of embassies, and of mutual visits, in full view. It went on to call on Arab nations to end their hypocrisy, in which they "maintain relations" with Israel but "don’t want anybody to know about them".

Prominent columnists

Hisham Hafiz and Khaled Almaeena served as the chief editors. Mohammad Ali Hafiz also served in the post between 1961 and 1964. Another former editor-in-chief of the paper is Ghalib Hamza Abulfaraj, a Saudi businessman.{{cite book|title=Who's Who in the Arab World 2007-2008|year=2007|doi=10.1515/9783110930047|edition=18th|location=Beirut|isbn=9783598077357|publisher=Publitec

Status and awards

The publishing house Al Madina Press, which is the owner and publisher of the paper, is one of the most prominent companies in Saudi Arabia.{{cite web|title=ProCurve Networking by HP is good news for prominent Saudi media group|url=http://h17007.www1.hp.com/temp/docs/case-studies/PNB-Al_Madina.pdf|work=ProCurve Networking|date=May 2006 |access-date=14 January 2014|author=Hisham Zahid|archive-date=15 January 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140115175618/http://h17007.www1.hp.com/temp/docs/case-studies/PNB-Al_Madina.pdf}} Al Madinah was awarded two major prizes in Saudi Arabia in 2010: Makkah Prize of Distinction and Asir Prize "Al Muftaha".{{cite web|title=Al Madina

References

References

1. William A. Rugh. (2004). "Arab Mass Media: Newspapers, Radio, and Television in Arab Politics". Praeger.
2. "Company History". Al Madina Printing and Publishing Company.
3. (2004). "World Press Trends". [[World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers.
4. (2010). "Saudi Arabia. Looser Rein, Uncertain Gain". Human Rights Watch.
5. Banafsheh Keynoush. (2016). "Saudi Arabia and Iran. Friends or Foes?". [[Palgrave Macmillan]].
6. "Saudi Columnist Slams Arab States' Hypocrisy on Israel Ties".
7. "Saudi Writer: Arab States Should Stop Hiding Their Relations With Israel".
8. (2012). "Speakers". International Public Relations Association - Gulf Chapter (IPRA-GC).
9. (2008). "Saudi Arabia. Media market description". World Association of Newspapers.