Condemning what he sees as journalistic impropriety, a Saudi columnist is strongly condemning journalists all over the globe for accepting bribes from the Saudi government – and failing to keep their end of the bargain.
In a column published in the Saudi daily Al-Watan, columnist Abdullah Nasser Al-Fawzan mildly criticizes the Saudi practice of paying journalists to write pro-Saudi media reports, while focusing the brunt of his outrage toward those journalists who pocket the money and criticize the Saudi regime nonetheless.
"For quite some time I have been hearing rumors that we [the Saudis] are paying journalists in Arab and non-Arab capitals, and that these payments are not in the hundreds of thousands but in the millions,” wrote Al-Fawzan in the January 14th 2004 edition of the Al-Watan Saudi daily (translated by MEMRI). “I did not believe it, because first of all it was in complete contradiction to our ethics, our values and dignity, our self-respect, and our reverence to our nation and country…Such was my impression, and that is why the rumors did not sink in and did not leave me any reason for further contemplation.”
Al-Fawzan goes on to say that he did not believe such rumors until he saw an article written by the Editor-in-Chief of Saudi Arabia’s top newspaper claiming the rumors are in fact true. “The rumors persisted,” wrote Al-Fawzan, “and two days ago I was surprised by a trustworthy Saudi journalist and a media personality with considerable credence, Turki Al-Sudairi, Editor-in-Chief of the Saudi daily Al-Riyadh, who published an article that changed my mind about the rumors I heard, and made me reconsider them seriously."
In his column, published January 12, 2004 in the Al-Riyadh Daily Al-Sudairi wrote, “Having a crippled and suppliant media cannot benefit us,” saying flat out that, “we have had the most bizarre relationship with newspapers in other Arab countries ... which to this time receive annual payments and subsidies, although they are insignificant in their own countries, let alone in the Arab world..."
Al-Fawzan half-heartedly condemns the policy of bribery but is far more passionate in his outrage at the fact that those issuing the bribes are not getting their money’s worth. “Although I do not support such payments under any circumstances,” Al-Fawzan wrote, “it would [be safe to] assume that they were given in exchange for taking certain positions and for defending us from attacks. However, this did not happen. On the contrary, the opposite has sometimes occurred.”
It turns out that the ethical consistency of those on the government payroll is not up to par with the Al-Fawzan’s expectations. "Mr. Al-Sudairi confirms that payments were made, but why haven't we seen the desired effect,” he asked, suggesting sweeping ‘reforms’ of the journalistic profession. “The problem is far worse than just making annual payments to Arab journalists, because these payments are the price of silence,” wrote Al-Fawzan, claiming that, “those who receive bribes to spare us their harm do not have the ability to harm us with their words or to safeguard us with their silence.”
The disgruntled columnist concludes with the words of Editor-in-Chief Al-Sudairi himself, speaking about the ungrateful journalists: “They are insignificant ingrates ... and some of them even use pseudonyms to publish articles against us.”
“I join him in condemning this sorry affair,” wrote Al-Fawzi, “and urge everyone to support him. If we are paying the price, as he said, to insignificant ingrate journalists who consider them a price for their silence, and still publish articles against us using pseudonyms, then the matter is truly scandalous and calls for investigation and proper remedies, not just for an end to the payments."
In a column published in the Saudi daily Al-Watan, columnist Abdullah Nasser Al-Fawzan mildly criticizes the Saudi practice of paying journalists to write pro-Saudi media reports, while focusing the brunt of his outrage toward those journalists who pocket the money and criticize the Saudi regime nonetheless.
"For quite some time I have been hearing rumors that we [the Saudis] are paying journalists in Arab and non-Arab capitals, and that these payments are not in the hundreds of thousands but in the millions,” wrote Al-Fawzan in the January 14th 2004 edition of the Al-Watan Saudi daily (translated by MEMRI). “I did not believe it, because first of all it was in complete contradiction to our ethics, our values and dignity, our self-respect, and our reverence to our nation and country…Such was my impression, and that is why the rumors did not sink in and did not leave me any reason for further contemplation.”
Al-Fawzan goes on to say that he did not believe such rumors until he saw an article written by the Editor-in-Chief of Saudi Arabia’s top newspaper claiming the rumors are in fact true. “The rumors persisted,” wrote Al-Fawzan, “and two days ago I was surprised by a trustworthy Saudi journalist and a media personality with considerable credence, Turki Al-Sudairi, Editor-in-Chief of the Saudi daily Al-Riyadh, who published an article that changed my mind about the rumors I heard, and made me reconsider them seriously."
In his column, published January 12, 2004 in the Al-Riyadh Daily Al-Sudairi wrote, “Having a crippled and suppliant media cannot benefit us,” saying flat out that, “we have had the most bizarre relationship with newspapers in other Arab countries ... which to this time receive annual payments and subsidies, although they are insignificant in their own countries, let alone in the Arab world..."
Al-Fawzan half-heartedly condemns the policy of bribery but is far more passionate in his outrage at the fact that those issuing the bribes are not getting their money’s worth. “Although I do not support such payments under any circumstances,” Al-Fawzan wrote, “it would [be safe to] assume that they were given in exchange for taking certain positions and for defending us from attacks. However, this did not happen. On the contrary, the opposite has sometimes occurred.”
It turns out that the ethical consistency of those on the government payroll is not up to par with the Al-Fawzan’s expectations. "Mr. Al-Sudairi confirms that payments were made, but why haven't we seen the desired effect,” he asked, suggesting sweeping ‘reforms’ of the journalistic profession. “The problem is far worse than just making annual payments to Arab journalists, because these payments are the price of silence,” wrote Al-Fawzan, claiming that, “those who receive bribes to spare us their harm do not have the ability to harm us with their words or to safeguard us with their silence.”
The disgruntled columnist concludes with the words of Editor-in-Chief Al-Sudairi himself, speaking about the ungrateful journalists: “They are insignificant ingrates ... and some of them even use pseudonyms to publish articles against us.”
“I join him in condemning this sorry affair,” wrote Al-Fawzi, “and urge everyone to support him. If we are paying the price, as he said, to insignificant ingrate journalists who consider them a price for their silence, and still publish articles against us using pseudonyms, then the matter is truly scandalous and calls for investigation and proper remedies, not just for an end to the payments."