Outlet profile

Arab News

Saudi state-aligned (English-language, Saudi government-linked ownership)

Owned byOwned by the Saudi Research and Media Group (SRMG, formerly Saudi Research and Marketing Group). SRMG's main shareholder has been tied to the Saudi state, and its chairman has been linked to the royal family (Prince Turki bin Salman). Reference sources describe the main shareholder as the National Commercial Bank (AlAhli), which the Public Investment Fund owns. These details come from secondary sources and may be out of date.

FundingMainly advertising and commercial revenue from SRMG's media group. The group is controlled by Saudi state-linked and royal-linked investors, which can give it financial backing and access. Exact subsidy figures are not public.

On the administrationmostly neutral

Background

Arab News was founded in Jeddah on April 20, 1975, by brothers Hisham and Mohammed Ali Hafiz, and it is generally described as Saudi Arabia's first English-language daily. The Hafiz family also built the Saudi Research and Marketing Company (now SRMG), which grew into one of the largest Arab media conglomerates, publishing titles such as Asharq Al-Awsat and Al Eqtisadiah. Over time the group came under ownership and leadership with ties to the Saudi royal family and state-linked investors. As of 2019, sources named Prince Turki bin Salman, a brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as owner. The paper is based in Saudi Arabia, where media operate under government licensing and tight limits on criticism of the monarchy, so its editorial line generally avoids criticizing Saudi leadership and tends to match official Saudi positions on foreign policy. It publishes mainstream news, business and opinion, and it includes some wire content and a range of commentators, but its coverage of sensitive domestic topics is shaped by this environment. On U.S. affairs, its coverage generally centers on Saudi-U.S. relations, Gulf security and Iran, and it tends to present Trump-era diplomacy as part of a close bilateral partnership. This profile rests partly on secondary reference sources and limited search results, so it is not a full review of the outlet's recent coverage record.

Sources

Profile compiled 2026-10-08; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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