Saudi government departments prohibited from buying newspaper ad space

Posted by Mica Swyers on July 4, 2007 at 12:00 PM

Combating the practice of responding to newspaper coverage through advertisements, the Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information has banned government departments from buying ad space in papers.

Under the law, newspapers and journalists have the right to take legal action against government departments that use ad space to respond to their coverage. The ministry will act as the authority on publication-related matters in Saudi Arabia for such legal proceedings.

A committee will investigate previous violations committed by Saudi publications, and the ministry has instructed newspapers to desist from publishing government responses in advertisements. Government departments may still respond via editorial material, but the use of ad space is strictly prohibited, even if the original coverage was untrue.

“No government department is allowed to level any accusations against any newspaper or journalist except in accordance with the Press and Publications Law and its executive bylaw,” the ministry announced in a statement through Al-Eqtisadiah daily.

Source: Arab News through Google

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