Al Arabiya English
Type of site
News website
Available inEnglish
OwnerMBC Group
(Saudi Arabian Government (60%); Waleed bin Ibrahim Al Ibrahim (40%))
EditorMamdouh Almuhaini
ParentAl Arabiya Network
URLenglish.alarabiya.net
CommercialYes
RegistrationNo
Current statusOnline

Al Arabiya English is the English language service of the Saudi state-owned Al-Arabiya News Channel.

Foundation and early days

Former logo, used until early February 2021.

Al-Arabiya English began in 2007 along with Persian and Urdu.[1] It carried wire news and selected translated articles from Al Arabiya's main Arabic language news site at first.

From 2019 to 2023, it was edited by Mohammed Alyahya who oversaw a comprehensive restructuring of the operation and a revamp of its website. A number of editors were brought in to manage the service independently, including American journalist Courtney Radsch who linked her redundancy to a news piece she ran regarding fatigue levels among pilots and crew of Emirates Airlines.[2] Other editors have included Pranay Gupte,[3] who served between 2011 - 2012 and Faisal J. Abbas,[4] who served as editor between 2012 - 2016 and was most renowned for relaunching the website.

Saudi columnist Mamdouh Almuhaini was appointed as general manager of Al Arabiya Network in October 2019. Before that, he was appointed on 27 September 2017 as the editor-in-chief of all of Al Arabiya's digital platforms, which include the English, Arabic, Urdu and Persian websites.[5] He is renowned for managing the coverage of the Donald Trump election, the Qatar diplomatic crisis as well as many other various projects.

Relaunch

On 1 July 2012, Al Arabiya News Channel issued a statement announcing the appointment of Faisal J. Abbas, a Huffington Post blogger, Middle East correspondent and former media editor of London-based daily Asharq Al Awsat, as editor-in-chief of its English Service.[6] Commenting on the appointment, Abdul Rahman al-Rashed, then General Manager of the channel said: “Faisal is among the most distinguished young journalists and it is a pleasure to have him on-board to continue taking the website forward.” [7] In November 2013, the site was re-launched.

Criticism

In 2012, Al Arabiya English published a series of stories which were based on revealing leaked emails belonging to Sherri Jaafari, the daughter of Syria's UN envoy Bashar Jaafari. The leaked emails showed Sherri requesting an internship with US television host Charlie Rose in exchange for securing an interview with President Assad. Furthermore, the emails revealed how Sherri worked with NY-based public relations company BLJ to produce a 2011 Vogue magazine feature about Asma al-Assad, the Syrian leader's wife, which labelled her a "rose in the desert" while Syria was undergoing a civil war.[8] Al Arabiya English's stories were carried by a number of US media outlets, including the New York Post[9] and The Huffington Post.[10] In response, Syria's UN envoy urged the media to leave his family alone.[11]

Following an Op-Ed published on 5 March 2015,[12] calling for President Barack Obama to "listen to [Israeli PM] Netanyahu" when it comes to the threat imposed by the Iranian nuclear deal,[12] many Arab, Iranian and even Western media outlets criticized Al Arabiya English's editorial stance. Based on this op-ed, the London Independent journalist Robert Fisk wrote on 6 March that the column, which was written by Al Arabiya English's editor-in-chief at the time, would not have been published unless it was blessed by the Saudi monarchy.[13]

References

  1. ↑ هذا الموقع يستخدم ملف تعريف الارتباط Cookie Al Arabiya website. Retrieved 12 December 2022
  2. ↑ "Laid off for implicating Emirates Airlines | Reporters without borders". RSF (in French). Archived from the original on 26 April 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  3. ↑ "Pranay Gupte : My Career". Pranaygupte.com. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  4. ↑ Faisal J. Abbas
  5. ↑ "Mamdouh AlMuhaini Author Page".
  6. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 September 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ↑ "Faisal J. Abbas Named Editor-In-Chief Of Al-Arabiya's English Website". HuffPost. 2 July 2012.
  8. ↑ "Al Arabiya obtains new leaked emails of Assad's New York-based media advisor". Al Arabiya English. 23 July 2012. Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  9. ↑ Bennett, Chuck (28 July 2012). "Aide to Syrian president asked Charlie Rose for a job while trying to arrange interview with boss". New York Post. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  10. ↑ "Syria Leaks: Al Arabiya English Reports On Assad's PR Firm". Huffington Post. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  11. ↑ "Syrian U.N. envoy claims media 'fabricated lies' about him and his family". Al Arabiya English. 4 August 2012. Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  12. 1 2 Abbas, Faisal J. (3 March 2015). "President Obama, listen to Netanyahu on Iran". Al Arabiya English. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  13. ↑ Fisk, Robert (6 March 2015). "Who can the Saudis trust when they find themselves on Netanyahu's side?". The Independent. Archived from the original on 8 March 2015. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
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