Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Okaz newspaper completes six decades of its incredible journey in pursuit of truth, day and night, providing news and images with all dimensions to its readers without compromising professionalism and credibility. The newspaper has become a media giant, establishing itself firmly on the throne of the print media in the Arabian Gulf region, with its influence extending even to the most Arab and foreign countries. The 60th anniversary of its inception comes in the midst of tremendous challenges surrounding the media industry in the world, during which Okaz also faced difficult times but it has been able to withstand them by diversifying its means and mechanisms and opening up to digitization. Today, May 28, marks 60th anniversary of the launching of Okaz, according to the Gregorian calendar. It had celebrated two years ago its 60th anniversary according to the Hijri calendar. Okaz stayed on the throne of the Saudi media with continuing to remain the top among the local newspapers with the largest number of online followers, according to researches and studies carried out by specialized companies. The Okaz website was able to stay on top of the pyramid among the Saudi daily newspapers, in addition to its growing distinction in international rankings as it is one of the eight most important websites in the Kingdom, according to the Alexa websites classification. The newspaper's website was distinguished for following the news round the clock, and publishing it with high accuracy and professionalism. In a new qualitative leap in December 2019, Okaz gave its followers and readers a new identity and content, featuring mainly digital evolution with desktop update with a new look and feel, optimized web pages, and competitive page load-speed. This was part of a comprehensive technological and technical change, as part of a broad plan to update media tools through a plan that draws its positives from the past, keeping pace with the present and its gains, and foreseeing the future and its plans. On the occasion of the 60th anniversary, Acting Minister of Media Majed Al-Qasabi, in an article he wrote in Okaz, said that Okaz disseminates the voice of the nation to the world through its Arabic edition and its sister English newspaper Saudi Gazette, and that the newspaper witnessed a distinct Arab presence and a clear impact on the media industry at the local, regional and global arenas. In his article, Abdullah Saleh Kamel, chairman of the Board of Directors of Okaz Organization for Press and Publication, appreciated the great efforts made by its pioneering founders, and pledged support to the newspaper to overcome the challenges in light of the changes in the media field, saying that it would continue to play its role under the slogan "To be the first," articulating the nation's conscience and citizen's voice with professionalism, credibility and responsibility. He also noted that the advancement in age added to the youthfulness and elegance of Okaz by adopting a new style based on constructive and balanced approach. In an article, Othman Al-Omair, a veteran journalist and editor-in-chief of the electronic newspaper Elaph, narrated three scenes that he witnessed with his contemporary columnist Abdullah Omar Khayyat and the duo of Sheikh Abdullah Kamel and Jameel Altheyabi. Abdul Majeed Ali, one of the first journalists in Okaz, recounts the humble beginnings of the newspaper, evoking many memories related with production, printing and distribution, while writer Abdullah Al-Ghadami recalled his stories with "Okaz" in its early years. Abdul Majeed Ali recalled in his article: "The start of Okaz was from an apartment in Al-Mowsali building next to the building of Bakhshab in Harrat Al-Sham. The franchise owner Ahmed Abdul Ghafoor Attar faced many difficulties as he took a great challenge to run the newspaper by himself. The value of each share was SR1,000 for the founders and everyone had the right for a stake of 10 shares. Attar deducted from the shareholders' salaries a monthly sum to pay for the value of their shares. Ali said the newspaper managed to get its chunk of government advertisements and tender notifications and that helped Attar to meet the expenses to a certain extent. "In the beginning, there were only two employees — Abdul Rasheed Attar and me. We did editing, printing, distributing and even performed the work of writing columns and articles," he said while pointing out that the first issue was in four pages. "At times, we failed to finish hand composing of pages before the deadline for taking the pages for printing. After filling up the blank spaces with stories made of ideas that came up in our mind at that time and any publishable material, we rushed to Sharbatly Press and rented a car and started distribution," he said while recalling that each copy used to sell for two piasters, and later the distribution was taken over by Bayazid through its well-known stationery," he added.
