Mohammed Fahad Al-Harthi is a Saudi writer, journalist and media expert based in Saudi Arabia. Al-Harthi has been the CEO of the Saudi Broadcasting Authority since August 2020, and the President of the Arab States Broadcasting Union since December 2021. His experience extends to more than 20 years in the fields of traditional and new media. Al-Harthi is also the President of the Saudi Media Forum since 2019, and the President of the Saudi Media Award. Additionally, he is a board member of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (

WAN-IFRA The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization made up of 76 national newspaper associations, 12 news agencies, 10 regional press organisations, and many individual newspaper ex ...

), and a member of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Journalists Association. He is the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of a group of magazines and websites such as Arrajol,

Sayidaty ''Sayidaty'' (Arabic سيدتي ''Sayyidatī'', meaning ''My Lady'' in English) is a weekly Arabic and a monthly English women's magazine published in both Riyadh and Beirut and distributed throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and Am ...

and AboutHer, owned by the

Saudi Research and Marketing Group Saudi Research and Media Group (SRMG), also known as the Saudi Media Group, is a Saudi state-backed media company registered in Riyadh. The group mainly publishes, prints and distributes various publications. The company operates in Saudi Arabia ...

. Al-Harthi has a

postgraduate Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...

degree in international journalism from the

City, University of London City, University of London was a public university from 1966 to 2024 in London, England. It merged with St George's, University of London to form City St George's, University of London in August 2024. The names "City, University of London" an ...

and a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

Work experience

Al-Harthi began his career with the London-based ''Asharq al-Awsat'' newspaper before joining the English-language newspaper ''

Arab News ''Arab News'' is an English-language daily newspaper published in Saudi Arabia. It is published from Riyadh. The target audiences of the paper, which is published in broadsheet format, are businesspeople, executives and diplomats. At least as ...

'' as a reporter, in addition to being a visiting journalist for the London-based ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

''. He was then transferred to the Saudi-published newspaper ''

Al Eqtisadiah ''Al Eqtisadiah'' () is a Saudi daily business newspaper, published by Saudi Research and Publishing Company. It has been in circulation since 1962. History ''Al Eqtisadiah'' was first launched as an economic daily in 1962. The founders of the p ...

'', where he went from being a journalist to becoming a front-page official, climbing up the ranks until he became editor-in-chief of the publication. Since 1997, Al-Harthi has been the editor-in-chief of '' Arrajol'' magazine, a

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

-based publication by the Saudi Research and Marketing Group. In 2002, Al-Harthi was presented with the Gulf Excellence Award in recognition of the magazine's success and wide circulation. In 2004, Al-Harthi was appointed as editor-in-chief of the London-based ''

'' and '' Al-Jamila'' magazines, both publications for the same Group. A year following his appointment as

, he relocated the headquarters of both magazines to

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

, in

Dubai Media City Dubai Media City (DMC), part of Dubai Holding, is a tax-free zone within Dubai, United Arab Emirates. History and profile The Dubai Media City was established and built in 2000 and inaugurated in January 2001 by the government of Dubai to boos ...

. Al-Harthi played a major role in transforming ''

'' into a leading model in the world of Arab journalism and digital media, as the publication’s name today represents a wide range of specialized magazines, websites, and platforms in various fields such as: ''Sayidaty Décor''; ''Sayidaty Mother & Child''; ''Sayidaty Fashion''; ''Sayidaty Magazine'' in English; ''Sayidaty.net; Al-Jamila.com; Arrajol’s website; Sayidy.net, Sayidaty Kitchen; Sayidaty TV''; ''Sayidaty Award for Excellence''; ''ALMALL'', which is the first digital shopping platform launched by an Arab publication; and ''AboutHer.com'', an English-language site dedicated to highlighting the achievements of Saudi Arabian and

Arab women Women in the Arab world have played different and changing roles, depending on the time period, the regional area, their social status. Differences in history, tradition, social structure and religion in different Arab countries have also largel ...

. From 2013 to 2016, Al-Harthi was also the editor-in-chief of ''

'', which is printed in Saudi Arabia in English for the Saudi Research and Marketing Group. Through the newspaper, he launched the ''Arab News Dialogue Forum'' project, which hosts seminars designed to facilitate the discussion of current issues by officials and diplomats. In September 2020, Al-Harthi became the chief executive officer of the Saudi Broadcasting Authority. In December 2021, he was appointed as the president of the Arab States Broadcasting Union. He is President of the Media Committee on the occasion of Saudi Founding Day (2022-2023) and President of the Media Committee on the occasion of Flag Day (2023).

TV shows

In 2015, Al-Harthi launched his talk show “Bidoun Shak” (Without Doubt) on MBC, taking on the role of presenter and

of one of the region’s most noticeable weekly programs that boldly addresses various social issues (in the style of reality television). The program had a significant impact, becoming a positive debate platform, in addition to being highly viewed. To this day, episodes and segments of the program still garner a high number of views on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Corporate social responsibility initiatives

Mohammed Fahad Al-Harthi launched numerous

corporate social responsibility Corporate social responsibility (CSR) or corporate social impact is a form of international private business industry self-regulation, self-regulation which aims to contribute to societal goals of a philanthropy, philanthropic, activist, or chari ...

initiatives that dealt with social and humanitarian issues, amongst which were: * La Lizawaj Al Kaserat (against child brides): A campaign against child and underage girls’ marriage in the

Arab World The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

. The initiative gained region-wide buzz, with top public figures, politicians, ministers and celebrities voluntarily promoting the campaign. Signatures of more than ten thousand people were collected for petitions that helped stop five marriages of minors, in partnership with charity organizations in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

. * Baader bel Khair (initiate goodness): A campaign recognizing other community and humanitarian initiatives, while creating awareness of volunteerism in society. *Khali Soutek Masmou Mish Makmou (let your voice be heard not taken away from you): A campaign against domestic violence encouraging abused women to speak up, under the slogan: Let Your Voice Be Heard, Not Suppressed. *Launched the Future of Media Exhibition (FOMEX) (2022) *Launched the "Productive" initiative (2021).

Achievements

* In November 2016, Al Harthi was elected to the Board of Directors of the Saudi Journalists Association. * In June 2019, World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (

) in the UK elected Al-Harthi as a member of the board. * In July 2019, he was appointed as the President of the first Saudi Media Forum, held in November 2019, under the slogan ‘Media Industry: Opportunities and Challenges. He is also the President of the Saudi Media Awards, which includes categories:

Journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

, Visual Production, Audio Production, and Personality of the Year. * In December 2019, Al Harthi organized the first edition of Saudi Media Forum. * In November 2022, Al Harthi organized the Arab Radio and Television Festival. * In February 2023, Al Harthi organized the second edition of Saudi Media Forum.

Awards

In 2002, Al-Harthi was awarded with the Gulf Excellence Award 2002 in recognition of his achievements and success in journalism and in the fields of online and print media. In 2014, Al-Harthi won the Media Innovation Award in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

for his achievements in the field of printed, visual, and digital media, achievements which have created success stories and innovative concepts for the media industry in the Arab region. He is also a founding member of the Young Arab Leaders Forum in Davos Middle East, a member of the Gulf / 2000 project at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, and a former member of the

National Union of Journalists The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is a trade union supporting journalists in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The NUJ was founded in 1907 and has 20,693 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Trades ...

(UK &

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

), in addition to being a key participant in several Arab and international media conferences and meetings. He also regularly publishes political articles in ''

Al-Sharq Al-Awsat ''Asharq Al-Awsat'' (, meaning "The Middle East") is an Arabic international newspaper headquartered in London. A pioneer of the "off-shore" model in the Arabic press, the paper is often noted for its distinctive green-tinted pages. Although pu ...

'' and '' Al-Bayan'' Newspapers, and he has a weekly column in ''

'' magazine and a monthly in '' Arrajol'' magazine.

Work experience

TV shows

Corporate social responsibility initiatives

Achievements

Awards

References

External links