|
|
|
Rob Wagner, who wrote Red Ink, White Lies about the early history of L.A. newspapers, recently left his job as features editor at The Stockton Record to serve as managing editor of the English language Saudi Gazette in Jeddah. He has sent Rip Rense a report on his first week in Saudi Arabia. A sample:
I work 12-hour days, six days a week, and the paper is very unorganized. Reporters are pretty lazy and it’s difficult to get work out of them. I’m trying to organize the national desk and get people to produce work. It’s quite a job and I haven’t had an opportunity to get out around town as much as I would like.Part of the problem is the Saudi culture. People work from 9 a.m. to noon, do prayers, have lunch, take a nap, then return to work at 4 p.m. And work until 5. The mantra here is anything you can do today can be put off until tomorrow.
There are about five nationalities in the newsroom -- Saudi, Pakistani, Indian, Jordanian, American and a few others I can't identify. Understanding each other is a little difficult. And if you thought newsroom politics can be bad, just imagine a similar situation here, but with newspeople from five different countries trying to get along.
Wasn't there a New Yorker story a few months ago about an American who went to Riydah to be managing editor of an English language Saudi paper?
I suspect that the "work ethic" problem might have more to do with the unfortunate rewards that await truly muck-raking journalists in a society like Saudi Arabia.
Posted by: Mr. Ricey at April 18, 2004 09:39 PMNew Yorker, January 5, 2004
THE KINGDOM OF SILENCE: A job at a Saudi newspaper offers a rare look inside a closed society.
by LAWRENCE WRIGHT
Posted by: facts@michelthomas.org at April 18, 2004 11:39 PMHere is a sample para from this 20,000 word piece:
Newspapers are a surprisingly good business in a country where the truth is so carefully guarded. Members of the royal family, Al Saud, are obsessively concerned about their image; they own or control most of the Saudi press, which dominates the Arab world. Within the kingdom, there are more than a dozen papers on the newsstands every morning. The most authoritative of them, and the most progressive, Al-Hayat and Asharq Al Awsat, are owned by Saudi princes but published in London. They are constrained by the same taboos that cripple all Saudi publications, however: nothing provocative can be said about Islam, the kingdom's official religion; the government, which is effectively led by Crown Prince Abdullah; or the royal family, which is headed by King Fahd. Another paper, Al Watan, partly owned by Prince Bandar bin Khalid, models itself on USA Today. But Okaz remains the national favorite. On the coffee table in the lobby was a copy of that morning's edition, January 28, 2003. It was like an Arabic version of the New York Post, filled with Hollywood gossip, and stories of djinns who haunt the sand dunes. Although ostensibly independent, Okaz is closely identified with Prince Naif bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, the Minister of Interior, who also controls the secret police and the media.
Posted by: facts@michelthomas.org at April 18, 2004 11:53 PM
of LA Observed
I worked with Rob at a Donrey Double A club in southern California. He was a good, at times challenging, boss, but he cared deeply about the craft of writing and writers.
His perspective on being an American in Saudi Arabia, given the situation in Iraq, would make for some fascinating reading. He's someone I'd actually LIKE to see do a blog.
Posted by: Brad Smith at April 18, 2004 12:19 PM