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 [...]
Category Archives: Saudi Arabia
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Here and there
Sunday, July 3, 2011 – 16:18
The Guardian sent their south Asia correspondent Jason Burke to Saudi Arabia for a special series on the country. While I think the overall reporting of the series leaves something to be desired, it was the third part of the series that made the headlines locally. Sheikh Saad al-Shethri (remember him?) said he intends to [...]
