Al Yaum (newspaper) explained

Type:Daily newspaper
Format:Broadsheet
Owners:Dar Al Yaum for Press, Printing and Publishing
Publisher:Dar Al Yaum for Press, Printing and Publishing
Chiefeditor:Sulaiman Aba Hussain
Political:Pro-government
Language:Arabic
Headquarters:Dammam
Oclc:42316367
Website:Al Yaum

Al Yaum (Arabic: اليوم; The Day or Today) is a Dammam-based, supposedly pro-government Arabic daily newspaper published in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.[1] The paper has been in circulation since 1965.

History and ownership

Al Yaum was first published in Dammam in 1965.[2] [3] Initially, it was a weekly eight-page magazine. Its frequency and size increased over time, becoming a daily newspaper in 1978.[4] The owner and publisher of the paper is Dar Al Yaum Organization for Printing and Publishing.[5] [6] The headquarters of Al Yaum is in Dammam.[7]

Hamid Ghuyarfi was the editor-in-chief of Al Yaum until 1981 when he was dismissed due to his criticism against the Saudi government.[8] One of the other former editors-in-chief was Othman Al Omeir who is the owner of the liberal Arabic news portal Elaph.[9] Muhammad Abdallah Al Wail also served as the editor-in-chief of the paper.[2]

The daily was the first in the Middle East and the second in the world to get an IFRA ISO certificate, the first in the Middle East to receive the IFRA Asia Award for best in print, and the first in the Middle East to become a WAN-IFRA Star Club member and a Color Quality Club member.

Content and format

Being a native paper of the Eastern Province Al Yaum critically covered negative living conditions of local people in the region before the Qatif uprising in 1979.[10]

The paper mostly covers news in relation to Dammam and nearby regions.[2] It also covers regional news, sports events, and social issues that are of interest to the readers in Saudi Arabia and Arab states of the Persian Gulf.[11] The paper is published in broadsheet format with 28 colour and black and white pages.[3]

Distribution and circulation

Although the paper focuses on the local news and mainly serves the Eastern province,[12] it is distributed across the Persian Gulf region.[11] It is the leading newspaper in the Eastern province.[13] [14]

The paper sold 6,000 copies in 1975.[15] The estimated 2003 circulation of Al Yaum was 80,000 copies.[16] [17] Its 2007 circulation was 135,000 copies.[5]

Bans and arrests

Although the daily is described as pro-government it has experienced suspensions and arrests of its correspondents. In 1982, one of its reporters was detained for two years.[8] In May of the same year the paper was suspended by the Saudi government due to the fact that its literary supplement became popular among the progressive and leftist young writers who were close to the Communist Party in Saudi Arabia and the Socialist Action Party in the Arabian Peninsula (Hizb alʿamal al-ishtiraki fi al-jazira al-ʿarabiyya).[8] [18]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Saudi Arabia. Newspapers and Magazines Online. World Press. 30 May 2012.
  2. Web site: Arab Media Review. Anti-Defamation League. 16 May 2012. July–December 2010. 19 January 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120119200951/http://www.adl.org/Anti_semitism/arab/arab-media-review-July-December2010.pdf.
  3. Book: Anthony Shoult. Doing Business with Saudi Arabia. 2006. GMB Publishing Ltd. 978-1-905050-67-3. 277.
  4. News: The press in Saudi Arabia. BBC News. 13 December 2006. 30 May 2012.
  5. Web site: Saudi Arabia. Media Market Description. World Association of Newspapers. 30 May 2012. 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20130921062852/http://www.ihudaif.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/WORLD-ASSOCIATION-OF-NEWSPAPERS-%E2%80%93-WORLD-PRESS-TRENDS-2008.pdf. 21 September 2013. dead.
  6. Web site: Dar Al Youm for Press, Printing and Publication. AME INFO. 30 May 2012. dead. 18 September 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130918060652/http://www.ameinfo.com/db-474197.html.
  7. Andrew Leber. Seek Fact From Texts: Saudi Media on China Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic. Asian Journal of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. 2020. 14. 4. 538–553. 228820450. 10.1080/25765949.2020.1841993. free.
  8. Book: Said Aburish. The Rise, Corruption and Coming Fall of the House of Saud: With an Updated Preface. Said Aburish. 2005. Bloomsbury Publishing. 214. 978-0-7475-7874-1. London.
  9. Web site: Sam Morris. New Nomination List for 2012 Media Awards. The Next Century Foundation. 2 June 2012. 17 January 2012. 31 May 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120531013107/http://www.ncfpeace.org/drupal/node/736. dead.
  10. Toby Craig Jones. Rebellion on the Saudi Periphery: Modernity, Marginalization, and the Shiʿa Uprising of 1979. 2. International Journal of Middle East Studies. May 2006. 38. 213–233. 3879971. 10.1017/S0020743806412320. 143066112 .
  11. Web site: Al Yaum Newspaper Saudi Arabia. Knowledge View. 30 May 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120716074453/http://www.knowledgeview.co.uk/node/240. 16 July 2012.
  12. Book: Good Governance in the Middle East Oil Monarchies. 2003. Routledge Courzon. New York. 114. https://www.routledge.com/Good-Governance-in-the-Middle-East-Oil-Monarchies/Hetherington-Najem/p/book/9781138362130. Tom Pierre Najem. Martin Hetherington. 978-1-1383-6213-0. Dynamics of GCC press–government relations in the 1990s. Naomi Sakr. Naomi Sakr.
  13. Web site: Al Yaum in Saudi Arabia books KBA Continent extension. 21 September 2013. WAN IFRA. 6 May 2013.
  14. Web site: Al-Yaum in Saudi Arabia books KBA Continent extension. Koenig and Bauer Group. 14 January 2014.
  15. Bilal Ahmad Kutty. Saudi Arabia under King Faisal. PhD. 1997. 85-86. Aligarh Muslim University.
  16. Book: Culture and customs of Saudi Arabia. registration. Westport, CT. 84. David E. Long. Greenwood Publishing Group. 2005. 978-0-3133-2021-7.
  17. Book: William A. Rugh. Arab Mass Media: Newspapers, Radio, and Television in Arab Politics. Westport, CT; London. 2004. Praeger. 978-0-275-98212-6. 61.
  18. Toby Matthiesen. The Cold War and the Communist Party of Saudi Arabia, 1975–1991. Journal of Cold War Studies. 2020. 22. 3. 35,46. 10.1162/jcws_a_00950. 221118100. free.

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