Buying Silence: How the Saudi Foreign Ministry controls Arab media
On Monday, Saudi Arabia celebrated the beheading of its 100th
prisoner this year. The story was nowhere to be seen on Arab media
despite the story's circulation on wire services. Even international
media was relatively mute about this milestone compared to what it might
have been if it had concerned a different country. How does a story
like this go unnoticed?
Today's release of the WikiLeaks "Saudi Cables" from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs show how it's done.
The oil-rich Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its ruling family take a
systematic approach to maintaining the country's positive image on the
international stage. Most world governments engage in PR campaigns to
fend off criticism and build relations in influential places. Saudi
Arabia controls its image by monitoring media and buying loyalties from Australia to Canada and everywhere in between.
Documents reveal the extensive efforts to monitor and co-opt Arab
media, making sure to correct any deviations in regional coverage of
Saudi Arabia and Saudi-related matters. Saudi Arabia's strategy for
co-opting Arab media takes two forms, corresponding to the "carrot and
stick" approach, referred to in the documents as "neutralisation" and
"containment". The approach is customised depending on the market and
the media in question.
