Arab News will become the first newspaper in Saudi Arabia to have a gender-balanced newsroom — and it intends to achieve this goal in less than two years, the media company stated.
Representing Arab News editor in chief Faisal J. Abbas, who is in France covering the visit by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi media personality Muna Abu Sulayman said, “On behalf of Arab News, I would like to officially announce its ambitious plan to have a 50-50 gender-balanced newsroom by the year 2020.”
Arab News said the gender-balanced newsroom drive which is referred to internally as the ’50:50 by 2020′ initiative will aim to cover all the newspaper’s bureaus and areas of operations. It will involve active recruitment, training and career guidance which the paper with the help of its publisher, the Saudi Research and Marketing Group will provide.
“This initiative is in line with the Kingdom’s reform plans and, as such, we are keen to ensure it succeeds, so we will make sure we announce progress reports regularly,” the statement said.
