Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG)Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG)

The five-member board, with a five-year term, will be responsible for the professional independence of the group's publications, Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported yesterday.

The members are Muhammad Abdu Yamani, Abdul Rahman bin Saleh Al-Shibaili, Muhammad bin Ibrahim Al-Hilwah, Fahd bin Abdullah Al-Sammari and Hamza Beit Al-Mal.

Yamani was the minister of information from 1975 to 1982, former president of King Abdul Aziz University, and the founding member of the Muslim World League. He took his doctoral degree in Economic Geology from Cornell University in the United States.

Al-Shibaili, a Ph.D. in mass communication from Ohio University, is a member of the Shoura Council, director general of Saudi Television for 1971-1977, director of Riyadh Television from 1965 to 1967 and served as the undersecretary general at the Ministry of Higher Education. He has published 14 books covering topics such as mass communication, autobiography and biographies.

Al-Hilwah was the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee at the Shoura Council until 2004, first adviser to the Saudi Development Fund until 1986, head of the department of political science at the College of Administrative Sciences at the King Saud University until 1991, member of the Arab Parliamentary Union and the Inter Parliamentary Union. He holds a doctoral degree in political economy and international relations from the University of California.

Al-Sammari, a winner of the King Abdul Aziz Medal of the First Order, is currently the secretary-general of the King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives, secretary-general of the Arabian Gulf Documents and Studies Center, editor in chief of Al-Darah Magazine. He was undersecretary for cultural relations at the Ministry of Higher Education from 1996 to 1999, dean of the faculty of scientific research and director of the Research Center at Imam Muhammad bin Saud University. He has a Ph.D. in modern history and international relations from the University of California.

Beit Al-Mal served as foreign media adviser at the Ministry of Information from 1994 to 1995, information adviser at the Center for Information and International Communication from 1997 to 2008, media adviser for Saudi Television from 1997 to 2005, member of the International Communications Society since 1980, member of the American Society for Teaching Journalism and Mass Communication, member of the board of directors of the Saudi Society for Information and Communication in its first and second terms. He has a doctorate in television and radio communication from Wayne State University in the United States.

According to the statutes of the board of trustees, the board should elect a chairman and deputy chairman. The board will meet at least twice a year and the report of its deliberations will be submitted to the board of directors of the group.

The board will guarantee the independence of the editorial policies of the group's publications. It will also ensure that the chief editors make decisions in a strictly professional and independent manner preserving traditional journalistic values.

The board will also see that the editors execute their commitments to their contracts of work with the company.

The board's statutes also stipulate that the editor in chief alone is responsible for making editorial decisions.

The board of trustees also has the final say in the appointment of chief editors from the nominations made by the board of directors of the group. The board can either approve or reject recommendations by the board of directors.

The board of directors does not have the authority to appoint or dismiss a chief editor or deputy chief editor without the written approval of the board of trustees. The directors also have no power to make any change in the pay, incentives or any other allowances without the approval of the trustees. The trustees have the right to meet any editor in chief, director or official in the company.

© Arab News 2008

 

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