Asharq Al-Awsat English website launched

JEDDAH: Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG) Chairman Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan has launched Asharq Al-Awsat’s English website (http://english.aawsat.com) from London.
The ceremony was attended by Editor in Chief Salman Aldossary, Deputy Editor in Chief Ali Ibrahim, Assistant Editors in Chief Aidroos Abdul Aziz and Zaid bin Kami, and the head of digital and online services, Audhwan Al-Ahmari.
Prince Badr bin Abdullah said the new website is a part of the efforts by SRMG to boost its electronic platforms with more languages to reach all categories of readers. It also comes within a series of measures to enhance the electronic arms and publications of the group, he said.
He stressed the importance of keeping up with the pace of development in the media industry, of which SRMG is one of the key investors.
Aldossary said the launching of the e-site, in its new look, comes within the newspaper’s plans to reach English readers, particularly the Western audience. The new website will primarily depend on photos, and will merge some sections and focus on issues of the Arab region in a manner that will reach Western and English readers in a fast and simple way, he said.
In addition to the site, the interface with smart phones has been updated and linked directly to social media accounts in an interactive manner, which will enable the reader to make prompt comments and interactions, he said. Aldossary said the new project comes within other projects the newspaper is planning to launch in the next months, which will include other languages like French, Spanish, Turkish and Urdu, in addition to the current site in the Persian language. The newspaper will also launch its first digital book by the end of this month, he said.
The editor in chief stressed the digital projects are targeting different categories of readers in the Arab world in particular, and the world in general, especially with the new digital revolution which necessitates continued updating of electronic products of the newspaper to make it a pioneer in the news industry.
Prince Badr later visited different sections of the newspaper and met with staff, and was also briefed by the editor in chief on the workflow of the paper from its head office in London.