Category Archives: Media

Update on Kashgari’s Case

Sunday, February 19, 2012 – 2:25

Just a quick update on the Hamza Kashgari case since many people have been asking: The young man is now in detention, his family visited him and he is reportedly in high spirits and being treated respectfully. Several sites and petitions have been set up to support him and call for his release. Prominent human [...]

By Ahmed | Also posted in Asides, Blogging, Human Rights, Libs and Cons, News, Saudi Arabia | Tagged , , , , | Comments (3)

Saudi Writer Hamza Kashgari Flees Country After Controversy on Twitter

Wednesday, February 8, 2012 – 1:45

UPDATE 2/12/12 03:09ET: Hamza Kashgari has been deported to Saudi Arabia by Malaysian authorities, several news agencies reported. Malaysian human rights lawyers say they had a judge order to stop the deportation, but by the time they reached the airport the plane already took off. Hamza Kashgari, a young Saudi writer, caused a firestorm when [...]

By Ahmed | Also posted in Blogging, Human Rights, Libs and Cons, News, Politics, Saudi Arabia | Tagged , , , | Comments (95)

Riding the Wave

Friday, January 6, 2012 – 1:11

For some reason, the government here finds itself compelled to get involved in organizing cultural events even when they suck at it. Why? Maybe because they don’t allow non-governmental organizations that usually play such roles in other countries. Or maybe because they want to keep the matters of arts and culture under control. Anyway, they [...]

By Ahmed | Also posted in Arts, Blogging, Human Rights, Libs and Cons, News, Politics, Saudi Arabia, Women's Rights | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (8)

On the Statement and Shameless Apologists

Sunday, December 25, 2011 – 20:10

Two stories were the focus of much debate and discussion in Saudi Arabia recently: a) the trial of what the local media likes to call the “Jeddah cell,” a group of reform activists accused of terrorism and plotting to overthrow the monarchy; and b) the tragic events in Qatif that resulted in the death of [...]

By Ahmed | Also posted in Libs and Cons, News, Politics, Saudi Arabia | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (4)

First Look: Al-Sharq, Newcomer to Saudi Media

Sunday, November 13, 2011 – 23:58

The latest player on the Saudi media scene was born this week, and its creators decided to deliver it on a very special date: November 11, 2011, at exactly 11:11 KSA time. Al-Sharq will also be the 11th general interest national daily newspaper in the country. I say ‘will’ because although the website was launched [...]

By Ahmed | Also posted in Blogging, News, Saudi Arabia | Tagged , , , , | Comments (7)

MOCI Failwhale

Thursday, September 1, 2011 – 22:13

The Ministry of Culture and Information (MOCI) is at it again. There is a new directive signed by Ahmad al-Hout, (get this) the acting assistant undersecretary for domestic media affairs, that bans journalists from pretty much doing anything without getting permission from the ministry first. Al-Hayat daily reports that, based on the new directive, Saudi [...]

By Ahmed | Also posted in Blogging, Human Rights, Libs and Cons, News, Saudi Arabia | Tagged , | Comments (8)

The Diplomatic Cables, Saudi Edition (2)

Sunday, August 28, 2011 – 6:00

As many people pointed out before, most of the US diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks are boring. In the this huge pile of documents, shocking discoveries are rare. Today, I will continue what I began yesterday by looking into the some of the interesting cables from the US mission to Saudi Arabia. Some of the [...]

By Ahmed | Also posted in Human Rights, Humor, Libs and Cons, News, Saudi Arabia, Women's Rights | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (2)

The Diplomatic Cables, Saudi Edition (1)

Saturday, August 27, 2011 – 19:06

Thanks to hurricane Irene, I’m stuck at home for most of the weekend. So I thought I could use the time to go through the latest dump of US diplomatic cables about Saudi Arabia that was released yesterday. One cable from January 2006 focuses on the cultural and sports programming by the US mission to [...]

By Ahmed | Also posted in Libs and Cons, News, Saudi Arabia, Sports, Women's Rights | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

On Being Hashtagged

Thursday, August 4, 2011 – 14:48

Adhwan al-Ahmari seems to think that there is some kind of war raging between Saudi journalists and activists. He said the revolution in Egypt has produced a divide between the two groups. This war is taking place in Twitter and in newspaper columns. First, let’s get some facts straight. There is a lot of broad-brush [...]

By Ahmed | Also posted in Blogging, Human Rights, Libs and Cons, News, Politics, Saudi Arabia, Technology | Tagged , , , , | Comments (6)

The New Activism

Tuesday, August 2, 2011 – 13:55

It is rather sad that at a time when peoples are toppling dictators and changing regimes, we are still stuck talking about women driving, underage marriage and the right of prisoners to get a speedy, fair trial. I’m not saying these issues are unimportant, but let’s face it: their importance pales quickly when compared to [...]

By Ahmed | Also posted in Blogging, Human Rights, Libs and Cons, News, Politics, Saudi Arabia, Women's Rights | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (4)
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