Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Asharq Al-Awsat launches new website | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Screenshot of Asharq Al-Awsat’s new website. (Asharq Al-Awsat)


Screenshot of Asharq Al-Awsat's new website. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Screenshot of Asharq Al-Awsat’s new website. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat—Under the patronage of Prince Turki Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz, Chairman of the Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG), leading Arabic international newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat will celebrate its 35th anniversary and the launching of its new Arabic website on Tuesday in the Saudi capital Riyadh. The event will be attended by Saudi Deputy Minister of Culture and Information, Dr. Abdullah Al-Jasser, as well as a number of other well-known political, cultural, and intellectual figures.

Prince Turki Bin Salman will launch the new website of Asharq Al-Awsat’s, which has been developed and restructured using the latest technologies. The new website will integrate online services and digital publishing, and feature social networking, video reporting, and the latest breaking news updated around the clock by a network of reporters based in key capitals across the world. The launch of the new website coincides with the 35th anniversary of Asharq Al-Awsat‘s foundation.

In a statement, Prince Turki Bin Salman praised the steps taken by Asharq Al-Awsat to invest in digital media services, stressing that the move towards digital publishing has become one of the major focuses for future media. He added that the global publishing industry is facing the key challenge of moving towards greater compatibility with digital readership.

For his part, Asharq Al-Awsat Editor-in-Chief Dr. Adel Al-Toraifi said that the editorial board had considered a number of ideas relating to the reading habits of Asharq Al-Awsat readers, and the newspaper’s general style, which led to the restructuring of the newspaper’s website while preserving its identity as the leading Arabic international newspaper. He added that this has resulted in the creation of a news website that incorporates the latest media technologies, is characterized by diligence in the application of the highest standards of professionalism, and is easy to use.

Dr. Toraifi added that Asharq Al-Awsat is well aware of the cultural diversity of its readership, which is a key factor in how readers view the website. For this reason, the editorial board made sure to include a striking visual design inspired by the newspaper’s traditional color and identity.

The Editor-in-Chief explained that the newspaper is being transformed into an interactive medium allowing two-way communication between the reader and the news, moment-by-moment, as soon as it happens.

The new website will feature a breaking news bar in red situated at the top of the page as well as a section featuring quotes and accompanying photos from leading public figures.

As for the news, this will be categorized according to geographical regions, such as the Arab Gulf, the Arab world, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.

The new website will allow readers to view summaries of articles, news items, daily reports, and sports news, in addition to including an opinion poll section to get visitors’ views on important political events. There will also be a news photo gallery as well as video reports directed and produced by Asharq Al-Awsat’s visual editorial team.

The website will feature the main sections of Asharq Al-Awsat, such as Sijalat (Debates), Yawmiat Al-Sharq (Cultural Events), Arab Wa Ajam (short biographies and news of prominent figures from around the world), Bareed Al-Quara’a (Letters from Readers) and Risala Ela Al-Muharir (Letters to the Editor).

The website will also include all of the supplements readers of the newspaper have grown accustomed to, such as A’lam (Media), Hasad (Weekly Feature), Ta’leem (Education), Siyaha(Tourism), Al-Saha (Health), Aloom(Science), Taqniya Al-Ma’loomat (Information Technology), Thaqafa(Culture), Al-Kutub (Books), Sayarat (Motors), Aqarat (Real Estate), Funoon (Arts), Al-Sinima (Cinema), Angham (Entertainment), Lamasat (Fashion), and Tahkeekat (Investigative Reports).