Symposium to mark Oman daily’s golden jubilee tomorrow

MUSCAT: The Oman daily newspaper, a leading Arabic-language broadsheet in the Sultanate of Oman, marks its golden jubilee on Wednesday.

The celebration is scheduled to be held under the auspices of Dr Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al Harrasi, Minister of Information, at the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre, in the presence of elite media personnel, intellectuals and founders of the daily newspaper.

Known as one of the top media houses in the country, the newspaper’s first edition was published on Saturday, November 18, 1972, corresponding to Shawwal 12, 1392 AH.

Initially located in Bait Al Falaj, the newspaper was published on a weekly basis every Saturday by the Directorate-General for Media and Tourism.

In 1984, the newspaper was ultimately published on a daily basis. For half a century of diligent work dedicated to media and journalism, the Arabic broadsheet evolved rapidly at various administrative, editorial and technical levels.

With its cultural, business, social and sports supplements, the Oman daily newspaper has been contributing to developing the Omani society, spreading awareness and reflecting the comprehensive development transformations that the Sultanate of Oman has enjoyed during a fifty-year span in different spheres under the modern and renewed renaissance.

A symposium entitled “This Country, This Newspaper” will be held on the sidelines of the ceremony spotting light on the political, cultural and social contexts of the newspaper, in addition to analysing the contents of the newspaper and its journalistic discourse in various fields.

Moderated by Masoud al Hamadani, the first session of the symposium will host Dr Abdulmunim bin Mansour al Hasani, the former minister of information, Dr Mohammed Naji, Abdulrahman bin Said al Maskari and Asim al Sheidi, the newspaper’s Editor-in-Chief.

The symposium will have four-sessions covering interactive workshops that will shed light on the progressive development witnessed by the newspaper, its future amid various technological developments, sports and cultural journalism, administrative and journalistic angles of the newspaper.