R 060550Z APR 91
FM AMEMBASSY RIYADH
TO USIA WASHDC 9181
SECSTATE WASHDC 8774
INFO RUFHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI
AMEMBASSY ALGIERS
AMEMBASSY AMMAN
AMEMBASSY BEIRUT
AMEMBASSY CAIRO
AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
AMEMBASSY DOHA
AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
AMEMBASSY LONDON
AMEMBASSY MANAMA
AMEMBASSY MUSCAT
AMEMBASSY NICOSIA
AMEMBASSY PARIS
AMEMBASSY RABAT
AMEMBASSY SANAA
AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
AMEMBASSY TUNIS
AMCONSUL DHAHRAN
AMCONSUL JEDDAH
AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
FBIS LONDON
FBIS NICOSIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 RIYADH 03320 
 
 
USIA 
 
USIA FOR NEA, P/G, P/M, P/FW, P/PFN, R 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, INR 
 
E.O. 12356:  DECL: OADR 
TAGS: PREL PROP PGOV SA
SUBJECT:  THE SAUDI PRESS: PROFILES OF INDIVIDUAL PAPERS 
 
REFS: (A) RIYADH 3311 (B) RIYADH 2749 
 
¶1.  CONFIDENTIAL--ENTIRE TEXT. 
 
¶2.  SUMMARY.  THIS CABLE GIVES BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF 
SAUDI DAILY NEWSPAPERS, THEIR INDIVIDUAL ORIGINS, SPECIAL 
SLANTS, AND ESTIMATED CIRCULATION FIGURES.  (ONLY 
"AL-HAYAT," A SAUDI-CONTROLLED DAILY PUBLISHED IN LONDON 
IS NOT INCLUDED).  REF A DESCRIBED THE STRUCTURE OF THE 
SAUDI PRESS ESTABLISHMENT, SOCIAL AND GOVERNMENTAL 
INHIBITORS ON PRESS FREEDOM, AND THE POSSIBLE LOCAL 
IMPACT OF THE INVASION OF SAUDI ARABIA BY THE FOREIGN 
PRESS DURING OPERATIONS DESERT SHIELD/STORM.  REF B 
COVERED INCREASED SAUDI INVESTMENT, AND POSSIBLE EFFORTS 
TO HAVE MORE EDITORIAL INFLUENCE, IN THE INTERNATIONAL 
ARABIC PRESS.  POST WILL PROVIDE STATE AND USIA MEDIA 
ELEMENTS WITH A SEPARATE UNCLASSIFIED PROFILE, EXTRACTED 
FROM THIS CABLE, FOR DESKTOP REFERENCE.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶3.  "AL-SHARQ AL-AWSAT" (SAUDI-OWNED, LONDON-BASED, 
MODERATE, INTERNAL CIRCULATION: 100,000-125,000, 
INTERNATIONAL CIRCULATION: 200,000-300,000).  FOUNDED IN 
1977, "AL-SHARQ AL-AWSAT" IS SAUDI ARABIA'S MOST 
INFLUENTIAL PUBLICATION AND ARGUABLY ONE OF THE TWO OR 
THREE MOST INFLUENTIAL NEWSPAPERS IN THE ARAB WORLD. 
"AL-SHARQ AL-AWSAT" IS PRINTED IN RIYADH, JEDDAH, CAIRO, 
DHAHRAN, CASABLANCA, LONDON, FRANKFURT, MARSEILLE, PARIS, 
AND NEW YORK.  OWNERS OF RECORD ARE THE AL-HAFIZ FAMILY, 
BUT THE GOVERNOR OF RIYADH, PRINCE SALMAN BIN ABDUL AZIZ 
AL SAUD (A FULL BROTHER OF KING FAHD) IS RUMORED TO BE A 
MAJOR BEHIND-THE-SCENES INVESTOR IN THE PAPER.  "AL-SHARQ 
AL-AWSAT'S" INFLUENCE IS MORE RELATED TO THE GLOBAL REACH 
OF THE PAPER THAN THE COLORFULNESS OF ITS EDITORIAL 
WRITING, BUT A FEW WRITERS (NOTABLY SAUDI AMBASSADOR TO 
BAHRAIN, GHAZI AL-GOSAIBI) HAVE DEVOTED FOLLOWINGS.  THE 
PAPER FREQUENTLY TAKES A MORE MODERATE STANCE ON 
ARAB-ISRAELI ISSUES THAN OTHER SAUDI NEWSPAPERS 
REFLECTING THE DIFFERING VIEWS AND MORE COSMOPOLITAN 
NATURE OF ITS INTERNATIONAL READERSHIP. 
 
¶4.  "UKAZ" (JEDDAH-BASED, PRO-GOVERNMENT, ESTIMATED 
CIRCULATION: 110,000-125,000).  SISTER PAPER OF THE 
"SAUDI GAZETTE."  FOUNDED IN 1960, "UKAZ" IS THE MOST 
POPULAR PAPER IN THE HIJAZ AND THE MOST WIDELY-CIRCULATED 
DAILY IN SAUDI ARABIA DUE TO DECLINING COMPETITION FROM 
OTHER HIJAZI PAPERS.  IN MID-1980S, "UKAZ" WAS OFTEN 
PERCEIVED AS A NEWSPAPER IN DECLINE DUE TO FAILURE TO 
INVEST IN MODERNIZATION, BUT HAS INVESTED IN IMPROVED 
PRINTING FACILITIES AND STEADILY EXPANDED CIRCULATION. 
DURING NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 1990, THE SAUDI PRESS LURCHED 
TOWARDS SENSATIONALISM AND YELLOW JOURNALISM IN SMEARING 
STATES PERCEIVED AS PRO-IRAQI.  "UKAZ" WAS GENERALLY 
VIEWED AS THE MOST AGGRESSIVE AND SENSATIONALIST IN 
PRINTING SUCH STORIES, PARTICULARLY STORIES DIRECTED 
AGAINST YEMEN AND PRESIDENT SALEH OR THE OCCASIONAL 
"INSPIRED LIE," SUCH AS A RECENT REPORT OF THE DEATH OF 
SADDAM.  LIKE PULITZER AND HEARST OF YORE, THIS POLICY 
PAID FINANCIAL DIVIDENDS AS "UKAZ" GRABBED MARKET SHARE 
AND INCREASED ITS CIRCULATION VIS-A-VIS OTHER SAUDI 
DAILIES. 
 
¶5.  "AL-RIYADH" (RIYADH-BASED, PRO-GOVERNMENT, ESTIMATED 
CIRCULATION: 100,000-120,000).  SISTER PAPER OF THE 
ENGLISH "RIYADH DAILY."  FOUNDED IN 1964, "AL-RIYADH" AND 
"AL-JAZIRA" COMPETE FIERCELY FOR INFLUENCE IN NAJD AND 
EACH CLAIM TO BE A LARGER AND MORE INFLUENTIAL PAPER THAN 
THE OTHER.  (WE GIVE THE EDGE TO "AL-RIYADH" BY A SLIM 
MARGIN.)  COMPARATIVELY PROGRESSIVE FOR A SAUDI 
NEWSPAPER, "AL-RIYADH" WAS THE FIRST SAUDI NEWSPAPER TO 
OPEN A WOMEN'S BUREAU.  ITS LITERARY PAGE IS DEEMED TO BE 
BY FAR THE BEST IN THE KINGDOM.  ITS EDITOR, TURKI 
AL-SUDAIRI, IS GENERALLY REGARDED AS ONE OF SAUDI 
ARABIA'S BEST WRITERS AND ENJOYS A MEASURE OF 
ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT RESPECTABILITY HAVING ONCE BEEN BANNED 
FROM WRITING DUE TO A PARTICULARLY BITING DENUNCIATION HE 
WROTE OF THE MINISTRY OF INFORMATION IN THE MID-EIGHTIES, 
THOUGH SUDAIRI IS FIRMLY IN THE CAMP OF GOVERNMENT 
LOYALISTS.  USIS RELATIONS WITH THIS PAPER, ALTHOUGH 
CORRECT, HAVE NEVER BEEN CLOSE.  DESPITE OUR BEST 
EFFORTS, WE HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO GET "AL-RIYADH" AS 
INVOLVED IN USIS PROGRAMMING AS OTHER PAPERS. 
 
¶6.  "AL-JAZIRA" (RIYADH-BASED, PRO-GOVERNMENT, ESTIMATED 
CIRCULATION: 95,000-110,000).  FOUNDED IN 1963 AND SISTER 
PAPER OF "AL-MASA'IYA."  AS NOTED ABOVE, "AL-JAZIRA" AND 
"AL-RIYADH" COMPETE FIERCELY AGAINST EACH OTHER.  USIS 
RIYADH ENJOYS A CLOSER RELATIONSHIP WITH THIS PAPER THAN 
ANY OTHER.  (IN 1986, THE PAPER COYLY SUGGESTED THAT 
QADDAFI MAY HAVE GOTTEN WHAT WAS COMING TO HIM WHEN THE 
U.S. BOMBED LIBYA IN 1986 IN COMPARISON WITH THE 
UNIFORMLY NEGATIVE REACTIONS OF OTHER SAUDI PAPERS). 
MANAGING EDITOR, JASER AL-JASER, WRITES THE ONLY DAILY 
EDITORIAL DEVOTED TO POLITICAL COMMENTARY IN THE KINGDOM 
AND IS WIDELY FOLLOWED, ALTHOUGH, IN THE VOLUME OF HIS 
PRODUCTION, QUALITY SOMETIMES SUFFERS.  (AL-SUDAIRI AT 
"AL-RIYADH," BY CONTRAST, PRODUCES ONLY A WEEKLY COLUMN). 
 
¶7.  "AL-MADINA" (JEDDAH-BASED, PRO-GOVERNMENT, MORE 
RELIGIOUS THAN OTHER SAUDI PAPERS, ESTIMATED CIRCULATION: 
75,000-80,000).  FOUNDED IN MADINA IN 1936, "AL-MADINA" 
IS SAUDI ARABIA'S OLDEST PAPER.  IN THE EARLY 1980S, THE 
PAPER LED "UKAZ" IN CIRCULATION, BUT HAS BADLY STUMBLED 
IN RECENT YEARS ALLOWING "UKAZ" TO ESTABLISH A COMMANDING 
LEAD IN THE HIJAZI MEDIA MARKET.  THE PAPER IS THOUGHT TO 
BE IN FINANCIAL TROUBLE. 
 
¶8.  "AL-YOM" (DAMMAM-BASED, PRO-GOVERNMENT, ESTIMATED 
CIRCULATION: 75,000-90,000).  THE PAPER ENJOYED A 
REPUTATION IN LATE 1970S AS A PAPER OF MILD NASSERIST 
SYMPATHIES LEADING TO A CRACKDOWN IN 1981-1982 WHICH 
RESULTED IN THE DISMISSALS OF SEVERAL JOURNALISTS, 
INCLUDING THE PAPER'S CHIEF EDITOR.  UNDER NEW EDITORSHIP 
AND WITH NO POLITICAL AXES TO GRIND, "AL-YOM" MAKES NO 
PRETENSIONS TO BE ANYTHING OTHER THAN A LOCAL PAPER 
CATERING TO EASTERN PROVINCE AUDIENCES, ALSO CIRCULATED 
IN BAHRAIN, QATAR, AND ABU DHABI.  IN THE EARLY 1980S, 
THE PAPER DREAMED OF ESTABLISHING AN ENGLISH EDITION, BUT 
THESE PLANS SEEM FIRMLY SHELVED. 
 
¶9.  "AN-NADWA"  (MAKKAH-BASED, RELIGIOUSLY CONSERVATIVE, 
ESTIMATED CIRCULATION OF 25,000-30,000).  "AN-NADWA'S" 
SMALL CIRCULATION MASKS THE IMPORTANCE AND INFLUENCE OF 
THIS PAPER WHICH IS A REDOUBT OF RELIGIOUSLY CONSERVATIVE 
OPINION IN THE KINGDOM.  THE PAPER'S EDITOR, YUSUF 
DAMANHOURY, IS ONE OF SAUDI ARABIA'S MOST RESPECTED 
JOURNALISTS AND ENJOYS A REPUTATION AS AN EDITOR WILLING 
TO TAKE RISKS AND MAKE PRINCIPALLED STANDS.  FOR EXAMPLE, 
"AL-NADWA" WAS THE ONLY SAUDI PAPER WHICH CONDEMNED THE 
IRAQI INVASION OF KUWAIT BEFORE THE SAUDI GOVERNMENT 
ADOPTED AN OFFICIAL POSITION ON THE ISSUE.  THE PAPER 
ALSO USED TO BE KNOWN FOR ITS STRONG SUPPORT OF THE 
PALESTINIAN CAUSE, AN EDITORIAL LINE FREQUENTLY 
ATTRIBUTED TO A LARGE NUMBER OF PALESTINIAN STAFFERS AT 
THE PAPER.  RECENTLY, HOWEVER, THE PAPER HAS SWITCHED 180 
DEGREES ON ITS SUPPORT FOR THE PLO AND HAS BEEN THE MOST 
OUTSPOKEN OF SAUDI PAPERS IN CRITICIZING ARAFAT'S 
LEADERSHIP, INCLUDING CARRYING EDITORIALS CALLING ON 
ARAFAT TO STEP DOWN AND QUESTIONING WHETHER THE PLO IS 
INDEED THE "SOLE LEGITIMATE REPRESENTATIVE" OF THE 
PALESTINIAN PEOPLE.  SEVERAL STAFFERS AT THE PAPER ARE 
ALSO EMPLOYED BY THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE.  THE PAPER'S 
LOCATION IN MAKKAH INHIBITS USIS CONTACTS WITH THE PAPER 
DUE TO THE INABILITY OF NON-MUSLIMS TO TRAVEL TO THE HOLY 
CITY, ALTHOUGH WE HAVE CONTACT WITH ITS CORRESPONDENTS IN 
RIYADH AND JEDDAH. 
 
¶10.  "AL-BILAAD"  (JEDDAH-BASED, PRO-GOVERNMENT, 
ESTIMATED CIRCULATION: 25,000-30,000).  FOUNDED IN 1959, 
IT IS GENERALLY AGREED TO BE ONE OF THE WEAKEST OF SAUDI 
ARABIA'S DAILIES.  ITS CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD IS AMIN 
ABDULLAH KARKORI, WHO, ALONG WITH A CADRE OF BUSINESSMEN 
AND LOCAL WRITERS, ARE THE MAINSTAYS OF THE PAPER'S 
EDITORIAL STAFF.  THE PAPER EMPLOYS FEW REPORTERS AND 
RELIES HEAVILY ON WIRE SERVICES FOR ITS NEWS COVERAGE. 
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ABDUL AZIZ NAHARI IS A UNIVERSITY 
LECTURER WITH M.A. AND PH.D. DEGREES FROM THE UNITED 
STATES.  THE PAPER IS PROBABLY NOT A MONEY-MAKER. 
 
¶11.  "ARAB NEWS"  (JEDDAH-BASED, PRO-GOVERNMENT, YET 
LIBERAL IN THE SAUDI CONTEXT, ESTIMATED CIRCULATION: 
75,000-80,000.  ALSO PUBLISHED IN CAIRO).  SISTER PAPER 
OF "AL-SHARQ AL-AWSAT" AND FOUNDED IN 1975.  BY FAR, THE 
MOST PROFESSIONAL OF THE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE PAPERS IN SAUDI 
ARABIA.  ITS EDITOR, KHALID AL-MAENNA, IS WELL-KNOWN IN 
JEDDAH FOR HIS SENTIMENTS FAVORING GREATER POLITICAL 
PARTICIPATION IN SAUDI ARABIA AND, IN NOVEMBER 1990, 
OPENLY ADMITS TO HAVING TESTED THE ACCEPTED BOUNDARIES OF 
SAUDI PRESS CENSORSHIP BY CARRYING STORIES ON THE ROLE OF 
WOMEN IN SAUDI SOCIETY AND HIGHLIGHTING COVERAGE OF THE 
PROCLAIMED KUWAITI COMMITMENT TO DEMOCRATIZATION.  SAUDI 
AUTHORITIES WERE REPORTEDLY NOT AMUSED, TOLD AL-MAENNA TO 
STOP FLIRTING WITH THE REGULATIONS, AND AL-MAENNA HAS 
RELUCTANTLY COMPLIED.  THE PAPER HAS SEVERAL WESTERN 
REPORTERS ON ITS STAFF TO ENSURE THAT EDITORIAL COPY 
REFLECTS PREVAILING ENGLISH SPELLING AND GRAMMAR. 
 
¶12.  "SAUDI GAZETTE"  (JEDDAH-BASED, PRO-GOVERNMENT, 
ESTIMATED CIRCULATION: 25,000-35,000).  SISTER PAPER OF 
"UKAZ." FOUNDED IN 1976, THE "SAUDI GAZETTE," WAS PERHAPS 
THE MOST ANTI-U.S. OF SAUDI PAPERS PRIOR TO DESERT 
SHIELD/STORM AND OCCASSIONALLY IS STILL SNIDE ABOUT U.S. 
POLICIES IN THE REGION.  ITS FLAMBOYANT EDITOR IS RIDAH 
LARY, A SAUDI CITIZEN OF PERSIAN ORIGIN, NOTED FOR 
WRITING SOME OF SAUDI ARABIA'S LONGEST EDITORIALS WHICH 
EVEN ARABS CONCEDE FREQUENTLY GO ON AND ON WITHOUT EVER 
COMING TO THE POINT.  THE "SAUDI GAZETTE'S" CHIEF 
CARTOONIST, ABDEL RAHIM ALIREZA, HAS A THIRD GRADER'S 
TALENT FOR ART AND HAS A PARTICULARLY STRONG ANTI-U.S. 
STREAK TO HIS CARTOONS WHOSE POINT IS FREQUENTLY 
INCOMPREHENSIBLE.  (ONCE IN THE MID-1980S, A PARTICULARLY 
PIQUED USIS PAO REFUSED TO INCLUDE "SAUDI GAZETTE" 
EDITORIALS IN HIS USIS MEDIA REACTIONS STATING THAT HE 
DID NOT BELIEVE THEY WERE REFLECTIVE OF MAINSTREAM PUBLIC 
OPINION IN SAUDI ARABIA.)  ALTHOUGH STILL SAUDI ARABIA'S 
SECOND LARGEST ENGLISH PAPER, THE NEWSPAPER HAS SUFFERED 
QUALITATIVE DECLINES THROUGHOUT THE EIGHTIES AND 
REPORTEDLY SUFFERS FROM DECLINING READERSHIP.  AS KHALID 
AL-MAENNA, THE EDITOR OF THE COMPETING "ARAB NEWS" ONCE 
REMARKED, "I HOPE RIDAH LARY STAYS EDITOR OF THE PAPER 
FOR ANOTHER TEN YEARS." 
 
¶13.  "RIYADH DAILY" (RIYADH-BASED, PRO-GOVERNMENT, 
ESTIMATED CIRCULATION: 15,000-25,000).  THE PAPER CLAIMS 
ORIGINS IN THE MID-1970S WHEN IT WAS LITTLE MORE THAN A 
FEW XEROXED SHEETS STAPLED TOGETHER, BUT BECAME A SERIOUS 
NEWSPAPER IN 1985.  UNDER A NEW EDITOR, TALAAT WAFA (AN 
M.A. HOLDER FROM GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY AND A PH.D. 
CANDIDATE AT CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY), THE PAPER HAS MADE 
MAJOR QUALITATIVE IMPROVEMENTS AND IS QUICKLY CATCHING UP 
ON THE "SAUDI GAZETTE" IN TERMS OF CIRCULATION.  WAFA HAS 
INVESTED HEAVILY IN THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY AND USE OF 
COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY AT THE PAPER WHICH REPORTEDLY STILL 
MAKES PUBLICATION UNPROFITABLE, BUT THE PAPER'S 
MANAGEMENT SEEMS COMMITTED TO STRIVING AGGRESSIVELY TO 
COMPETE IN THE CROWDED SAUDI MARKET FOR ENGLISH NEWSPAPERS. 
 
¶14.  "AL-DHAHIRA"  (LONDON-BASED, SISTER PUBLICATION OF 
"AL-SHARQ AL-AWSAT", CIRCULATION IN THE LOW THOUSANDS). 
"AL-DHAHIRA" WAS BROUGHT OUT AS AN AFTERNOON PAPER BY THE 
SAUDI RESEARCH AND MARKETING COMPANY (PUBLISHERS OF 
"AL-SHARQ AL-AWSAT" AND "ARAB NEWS") IN RESPONSE TO THE 
IRAQI INVASION OF KUWAIT AND THE INCREASED DEMAND FOR 
NEWS THROUGHOUT THE ARAB WORLD.  THE PAPER DOES NOT HAVE 
EDITORIAL CONTENT AND LIMITS ITSELF TO PUBLISHING UP TO 
THE MINUTE WIRE SERVICE REPORTS ON REGIONAL 
DEVELOPMENTS.  THE FUTURE OF THE PUBLICATION IN THE WAKE 
OF THE GULF WAR IS UNCLEAR, BUT ITS CIRCULATION IS 
CERTAINLY SUPPORTED BY GOVERNMENT PURCHASES. 
 
¶15.  "AL-MASA'IYA"  (RIYADH-BASED, PRO-GOVERNMENT, 
RELIGIOUSLY CONSERVATIVE, ESTIMATED CIRCULATION OF 
25,000-35,000).  SISTER PAPER OF "AL-JAZIRA."  OPENED IN 
1982 AS SAUDI ARABIA'S ONLY AFTERNOON NEWSPAPER.  IN 
1983, CAME UNDER HEAVY FIRE FROM RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENT 
AFTER PUBLISHING ARTICLES WHICH RELIGIOUS CONSERVATIVES 
FELT MOCKED ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS VALUES.  TO AVOID CLOSURE, 
THE PAPER APPOINTED A NEW EDITOR FROM RIYADH'S 
ULTRACONSERVATIVE IMAM MUHHAMAD UNIVERSITY WHO HAS SHOWN 
LITTLE DIRECTION IN LEADING THE PAPER ANYWHERE.  THE 
PAPER IS REPORTEDLY IN FINANCIAL DIFFICULTY IN LIGHT OF 
COMPETITION FROM "AL-DHAHIRA" FOR A DECLINING 
AFTERNOON/EVENING READERSHIP. 
 
¶16.  COMMENT.  FOR A COUNTRY WITH A TOTAL POPULATION OF 
ROUGHLY TWELVE MILLION (SEVEN OR EIGHT MILLION OF WHOM 
ARE SAUDIS, THE REMAINDER ARE EXPATRIATES RUNNING THE 
GAMUT FROM SOPHISTICATED WESTERN TECHNOCRATS TO 
IMPOVERISHED ASIAN SWEEPERS), SAUDI ARABIA HAS AN 
UNUSUALLY LARGE NUMBER OF DAILY NEWSPAPERS.  THESE DOZEN 
PAPERS PROVIDE A LARGE VOLUME OF EDITORIALS AND NEWS 
ANALYSES FOR USIS MEDIA REACTIONS, BUT RARELY IS THERE 
ANY PROVOCATIVE DEVIATION FROM THE GOVERNMENT'S PERCEIVED 
VIEWS ON DOMESTIC OR INTERNATIONAL ISSUES.  IN COMPARISON 
WITH OTHER MUSLIM COUNTRIES, THE SAUDI PRESS (BOTH IN THE 
ENGLISH, AND TO AN EVEN GREATER EXTENT, IN THE ARABIC 
PRESS) DEVOTES LARGE VOLUMES OF NEWSPRINT TO PROMOTING 
ISLAMIC PRACTICES AND PIETIES, AS A CONSTANT REINFORCER 
OF THE "CORRECTNESS" OF THE SAUDI VIEW OF ISLAM.  (SUCH 
WRITINGS PROBABLY ATTRACT MORE READERS TO THE 
CONSERVATIVE PRESS THAN ANY COVERAGE OF INTERNATIONAL 
EVENTS.)  WHILE THE NUMBER OF PAPERS AND JOURNALISTS 
CERTAINLY MERITS STRONG USIS ATTENTION, THE SAUDI PRESS 
ESTABLISHMENT, LIKE THE REST OF THE KINGDOM'S MODERN 
INFRASTRUCTURE (SLEEK SUPERHIGHWAYS, L.A.-STYLE 
HIGHRISES, AND 21ST CENTURY AIRPORTS), HAS AN AIR OF 
GIANTISM AND UNREALITY ABOUT IT.  SUPERFICIALLY, THE 
SAUDI PRESS IS IMPRESSIVE AND GLITZY WITH ACCESS TO ALL 
OF THE WORLD'S MEDIA SOURCES AND THE LATEST AND MOST 
TECHNOLOGICALLY SOPHISTICATED PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES, YET 
WITHIN IT THERE IS A CERTAIN HOLLOWNESS AS EGYPTIAN AND 
SUDANESE EXPATRIATES TOIL TO ASSEMBLE THIS NUMERICALLY 
LARGE, BUT UNPROVOCATIVE, ARRAY OF DAILY PRESS 
PUBLICATIONS. 
 
¶17.  MINIMIZES CONSIDERED. 
 
 
GILBERT