Not long ago, while in a taxi from Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport into town, I noticed several posters advertising a computer fair.

To be precise an Apple Mac fair.

Now because Arab News like almost all other newspapers in the world uses Apple Macs, as do most journalists, and as I do, I told the taxi driver to head straight for the fair instead of the apartment I use when in the French capital. It was the last day of the show and I did not want to miss it; there might be some new equipment or programs. Fortunately, I did not have any luggage apart from my briefcase.

The taxi driver, a Moroccan with, I remember, rather challenging and unorthodox views on Arab unity, was only too happy to oblige; we had almost reached the destination by the time I had changed my mind; this was a lucrative double fare for him.

Needless to say, there were all sorts of electronic goodies on show, many beyond my budget, several beyond my requirements, and one or two beyond my comprehension.

I did, however, manage to pick up one or two not-too-expensive “toys”, such as a gadget which when attached to my iPod allows me to play the sound through the car radio; I can now play 300 CDs in the car.

Inevitably at the fair, I got into conversation with some of the exhibitors, many of whom were American, and for that, my plastic press pass hanging round my neck with the words “Arab News” on it played its own special part (getting hold of it at such short notice had required considerable effort and in the event, ruthless determination, but that is another story).

“I know Arab News,” said a Texan voice.

He was one of the exhibitors.

It turned out that he had worked in the Kingdom some years before.

“I used to read it. It’s a good newspaper.”

At first, I suspected that he might be trying to get into my good books in the hope of a write-up for his product; it does happen.

But it was soon obvious that he was telling the truth. He clearly knew Jeddah and Riyadh well.

More interestingly, he still read Arab News.

On the Internet.

“It gives me a different view,” he said.

Not 50 paces away, another exhibitor — another American — waxed positively lyrical.

“Arab News? I look at it on the Net almost every day. Very good paper. It’s different.”

On the other side of the hall, a man from Bose (the sound system people) expressed similar recognition.

“You’re from Arab News? Saudi is an important market for us,” and, as if to demonstrate it, insisted I have a special preview of the sound system for the iPod (which so impressed me that I bought one) for the next week or so I was subjected to regular telephone calls and e-mails from their press department.

Had the fair been in Bahrain or Dubai, there would have been nothing to it.

Arab News is available in both places.

In India, too, or Pakistan, providing you are in the right circles, the name Arab News provokes instant recognition.

But this was Paris.

Moreover, neither the man from Bose or the other American had ever been to Saudi Arabia.

Yet they were as familiar with the paper as with the Straits Times or the South China Post.

That did not happen 30 or even 15 years ago. The only non-Saudis who knew Arab News when I first started to work with the paper in 1983 were either expats who worked here or had worked here or people whose business it was to know about the paper — other journalists covering the Middle East, politicians, diplomats and the like — and they would all be people who had had some connection with Saudi Arabia.

For the vast majority, however, the name Arab News produced no response.

Interest, yes.

Recognition as to location, yes.

But acquaintance with the paper, no.

I might just as well have said I was from “The Timbuktu Times”. And that remained so for many years.

That is not the case today.

The Paris computer show was no exception.

In London, in Cairo, Rome, New York, even in Highland villages in Scotland or in small towns in Burgundy, and of course, in so many places in Kerala, my response to the inevitable question “What do you do?” nowadays regularly produces instant recognition even though the questioners too often still have stereotypical ideas about the Kingdom.

“Bit dangerous there, isn’t it?” or “Of course, they’re all very rich.” But there is recognition.

It is not just because of the paper’s Internet website.

Stories from Arab News get picked up and carried by many other publications and other Internet sites these days. The stereotypes notwithstanding, it is movement in the right direction. Saudi Arabia is likewise no longer seen as quite the oil-rich, mysterious desert kingdom it was believed to be 30 years ago.

There is greater awareness of the Kingdom and greater interest in what is happening here. And Arab News has been very much involved in that change. It is now a paper that the world knows, in part because of the economic and political importance of Saudi Arabia, in part because it has become, through its Internet edition, the English-language doorway to news and views from the Arab world.

Indeed for those reasons, in the US, it is probably better known than newspapers such as the Rand Daily Mail or the Straits Times or even the Times of India, despite these papers having far larger circulations, longer histories and remarkable reputations.

That is some achievement.

(Michel Cousins is our principal leader writer.)