Aldakhil made MD of SRMG, Al-Faiz CEO of Nashr Co., Al-Harthi editor in chief of Arab News

Prince Faisal bin Salman, chairman of Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG), has appointed Dr. Azzam Aldakhil managing director of SRMG in addition to his position as chairman of Numu Media Company, Abdulwahab Al-Faiz CEO of Nashr Company, and Mohammed Fahad Al-Harthi editor in chief of Arab News. The new appointments come into effect today.
In a statement on the occasion, Prince Faisal said the new appointments came in the wake of the changes and challenges the publishing industry has been witnessing in its conventional framework at national, regional and international levels.
“Such challenges and the new initiatives in building integrated print and digital platforms have been entailed with a sizeable increase in the new digital readership and a promising digital advertising share,” the SRMG chief said.
Prince Faisal, who heads one of the leading Arab publishing and publishing-related groups in the Middle East, said the new vision to develop the group’s strategy in the publishing, education and packaging sectors, has been presented to the board.
“It follows the new appointments of highly experienced professionals to lead and develop those sectors and their futuristic initiatives,” the prince said. Under the new organization, legacy publishing and related operations of advertising, distribution and subscriptions will be brought under Nashr Company. New media, specialized and commercial publishing and content creation, education and online advertising will be under the umbrella of Numu Media Company.
In a similar statement, Dr. Aldakhil said the group had studied in depth the new developments taking place in the content creation industry in the digital age, and the subsequent fast-growing multi-platform readership with young readers constituting the majority.
“This expansion in the readership space opens wide doors for new smart approaches in knowledge investment directed to integrated print and digital platforms,” Dr. Aldakhil said.
Dr. Aldakhil added that the two companies, Nashr and Numu, would be operating together to enhance the base of growth in SRMG. He said Al-Faiz, who is the CEO of Nashr, has been following closely the developments in the publishing industry during his work as editor in chief of a number of publications in the Saudi Research and Publishing Company. Nashr’s activities will include all operations related to SRPC’s publications on the levels of publishing, advertising and distribution.
Al-Harthi, the new editor in chief of Arab News, will continue to hold his present position as the editor in chief of Sayidaty magazine. Al-Harthi, who succeeds Al-Faiz as Arab News editor in chief, has been one of the prominent editors in SRPC. He developed Sayidaty and its sister publications in Arabic and English and paved the way for Sayidaty to become a leading women’s magazine in the Arab world.
Prince Faisal also appointed Mai Badr as the deputy editor in chief of Sayidaty in addition to her job as the editor in chief of Hia magazine. Badr has been the editor of Hia for many years and succeeded to create a growing base of distinguished readership for the magazine.
The chairman also appointed Mona Seraj, managing editor of Sayidaty in Saudi Arabia, as deputy editor in chief of Hia magazine. Seraj is a professional Saudi journalist who has achieved long-standing experience in the media industry.
“All the new appointments and decisions will be effective as of Jan. 5, 2013 to meet the new challenges of the coming phase of growth in SRMG,” the company said in a statement.