About Us
The Foreign Media Affairs was established in 1996 to promote accurate and balanced reporting on the Kingdom in the international media. It has gone through several stages of development since its inception, reflecting the way the Kingdom,s politics and priorities have changed with the accession of King Hamad bin Isa al Khalfia to the throne in March 1999. When King Hamad became head of state, he set about a wide ranging political reform process that transformed the Kingdom,s politics, culminating in 2002 with parliamentary elections, but also included the release of all political prisoners, granting women equal political rights and encouraging the flowering of civil society. To meet with the changing agenda, the role of the Foreign Media Affairs was tasked to assist and encourage the growing international media interest in the reforms. As such it not only assisted journalists to cover the Kingdom through media tours, but during the parliamentary elections set up an international press centre to host the large numbers of international correspondents covering the landmark event. The reforms continue to garner a great deal of interest, not only from the print and broadcast media, but also from specialist publications on democratisation and the Arab world, perceiving the Kingdom as a model for the region,s political development. Thus the Foreign Media Affairs has worked to develop relations with a wider variety of media outlets and even academia. The Foreign Media Affairs has also responded to growing media interest in the Kingdom,s dynamic economic growth, propelled by the diversification of the economy away from reliance on hydrocarbons and into banking, tourism and retail. Throughout its development, the Foreign Media Affairs has worked to build a reputation for assisting journalists to produce the highest standards of international coverage, whether through ensuring they have access to the most accurate information or by giving them the opportunity to interview leading officials and commentators.
