The truth is that the forum was a rally or a festival. Mohammed Fahad al-Harthi has never taken on a role in the media that he didn’t excel at. The forum was a dazzling and remarkable display of Saudi Arabia’s capacity for organization and achievement when its officials take charge.
The “spectacle” took place both inside and outside the conference halls: young Saudi men and women were everywhere. To be Saudi is to be organized, erudite, and full of surprises. Everyone in attendance was young except those sitting in the guest row, where one could find wrinkled faces and gray hair. May God prolong the lives of these role models.
The ‘Personality of the Year Award’ was given to one of those guests, Mr. Khalid bin Hamad Al Malik. The man is a model of the generation through which the Saudi press evolved from a profession where texts were written letter by letter to one in which thousands of copies were printed every hour. These were the tireless men of words and inkwell pioneers. He is a model of the credible figures adored by the people, who were assured of their merit, integrity, and clean conscience.
When Okaz Editor-in-Chief Jamil Al Thiyabi was honored, the following generation of earnest professionals was honored. However, these generations are fighting the last stages of what remains of the printed press. I was asked two questions by everyone who shook my hand. “How is Beirut?” “What about the printed press?” My response to the first question: its people make me for it. My response to the second: its people give me hope.
Nonetheless, the decline of print does not imply that the press is in decline. Indeed, what we are seeing is little more than a transition from one medium or material to another. This has already happened to books. They are not printed anymore, but this does not mean the idea, poetry and the novel have disappeared.
Honoring my esteemed colleague Khaled Al-Malik had different connotations: a generation leaving its seat to give way to a new generation. This is how life goes; this is the law of our world. In any case, no one played a more prominent role in the battle to defend the profession that he had dedicated half a century to. He is the one who called on the state to allow this profession to change and not abandon its support for it. The press is not a burden on countries. Rather, it is part of their history and future, and it must not be shunned as a country shines amid an unprecedented renaissance.
This was a forum of both the past and the future, heritage and its evolution. Morals are its foundations, and the sky is its limit. Before anything else, it reflects the courage and the great path that Prince Mohammed bin Salman is striving to take his country on.
