Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH — The board of directors of Okaz Organization for Press and Publications has decided to take all necessary measures to transform Saudi Gazette, Saudi Arabia’s second English language daily launched in 1976, into a fully digital newspaper.

Meeting under its chairman Abdullah Saleh Kamel, the board said the move was within a plan to keep pace with changes in the behavior of both the reader and the advertiser.

The chairman, on the other hand, announced that he would personally incur all expenses of training and rehabilitating Saudi cadres in the organization to carry on the media message under the Kingdom’s ambitious Vision 2030.

He asked the management and the editorial departments to support the capabilities of Saudi cadres in the organization, especially those working in the media.

“The management and the editorial should promptly enable Saudi cadres to replace expatriates working in the editorial team of Okaz Arabic newspaper,” Kamel said.

The board discussed the performance and expenses of the organization during the fiscal year ending on Dec. 31, 2018, the indicators of the advertising market and its impact on press organizations.

The board approved more measures to rationalize and reduce expenses of the organization at administrative and editorial levels in the next phase.

The board asked the management to restructure the organization according to the requirements of the new phase.

The board meeting was attended by Hamad Al-Qadi, Walid Bin Mahfouz, Dr. Tarik Fadaq, Dr. Ahmed Al-Youssef, Hussain Shobokshi, Dr. Mussalam Bin Mussalam, Dr. Amin Saati, Director General of the Organization Walid Qattan, Editor-in-Chief of Okaz Jameel Altheyabi and Ahmed Bin Sulaiman Al-Battah, secretary-general of the board.