Al-Jazirah newspaper

IT was not strange that steps were taken to reform the Saudi visual media. We were expecting such steps for long. This expectation was enhanced further with the appointment of our colleague Dawood Al-Shiriyan as chairman of the Broadcasting and Television Corporation and the presence of the cultivated newscaster Khaled Mudkhili, and before them Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Awwad Saleh Al-Awwad with his activism and vision.

There was no need for us to have 10 dead satellite TV channels, which are not being followed by viewers, except when they hear about the expected announcement of royal orders or other official matters related to Saudi Arabia.

In my opinion, the decision to suspend transmission of Saudi TV's Channel Two until it is improved was one of the most important decisions taken by the minister of culture and information. The objective for developing the channel is to speak to the world in a new, innovative and effective language. I have repeatedly written in this column on this issue that we are facing a comprehensive media war, regionally and globally, and it is essential that we speak to the people of the world in their language and in a manner they understand.

If the issue were in my hands, I would have spent all my wealth to create a superb media that excels in the English language. I would have invited the most famous foreign media figures and experts to manage this channel. I would have trained Saudi young men and women to work in this channel in preparing materials, presentation and production, so that we can reach the world the way we want and not the way the world imagines.

Moreover, the decision to merge the channels like Al-Eqtisadiah with Al-Ekhbariya was a right one, as economics and politics are inseparable. Presenting the news and analytical aspects of politics and economics together in a professional manner can create a distinctive TV channel that deserves to be followed.

As to the Cultural Channel, the viewers have been ignoring it for years without giving it any attention mainly due to its name. Culture, with all its components — literature and visual arts, can be encompassed in one common channel that covers an interesting variety of events.

What I wished was the ministry gave greater attention and thought to children. We always forget them because of our preoccupation with what we see as more important. The creation of a distinct channel for children, similar to many foreign channels, can attract the digital-age children, who are ahead of us by several light years in awareness by being up-to-date on what is taking place in the world.

I also wished that the minister would announce the establishment of an interactive website under the name Saudiarabia.net. This website will keep pace with what is transmitted by TV channels via new and conventional media and picking the most prominent and interesting news, in the same way all effective and influential commercial channels do.