Buying Silence: Why the Arab and English speaking media are reluctant to report Clinton connections to #SaudiArabia

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Buying Silence: Why the Arab and English speaking media are reluctant to report Clinton connections to #Saudi https://t.co/e3cx2Lr8r0

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks)

July 30, 2016

The Saudi Cables

Cables and other documents from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Buying Silence: How the Saudi Foreign Ministry controls Arab media

On Monday, Saudi Arabia celebrated the beheading of its 100th prisoner this year. The story was nowhere to be seen on Arab media despite the story's circulation on wire services. Even international media was relatively mute about this milestone compared to what it might have been if it had concerned a different country. How does a story like this go unnoticed?

Today's release of the WikiLeaks "Saudi Cables" from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs show how it's done.

The oil-rich Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its ruling family take a systematic approach to maintaining the country's positive image on the international stage. Most world governments engage in PR campaigns to fend off criticism and build relations in influential places. Saudi Arabia controls its image by monitoring media and buying loyalties from Australia to Canada and everywhere in between.

Documents reveal the extensive efforts to monitor and co-opt Arab media, making sure to correct any deviations in regional coverage of Saudi Arabia and Saudi-related matters. Saudi Arabia's strategy for co-opting Arab media takes two forms, corresponding to the "carrot and stick" approach, referred to in the documents as "neutralisation" and "containment". The approach is customised depending on the market and the media in question....

https://wikileaks.org/saudi-cables/buying-silence