If the veil of secrecy surrounding Saudi Arabian society appears to be lifting, then it is partly due to the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US. Since then the government has increasingly faced pressure at home and abroad to show a willingness to reform. A systematic media offensive abroad attempted to show the kingdom in a more positive light, particularly in US circles.

However, it is at home where the greatest effort has been applied. Saudi liberals have upped the pressure on authorities, concerned with the internal threat from Al-Qaeda sympathisers and the spread of extremist ideologies. Conferences have been held to analyse the problems at grassroots levels with much of the focus aimed at initiating general reforms and revamping the school system. In early February, the Counter-Terrorism International Conference capped an aggressive anti-terror campaign by Saudi authorities to uproot militant cells in the kingdom.

The spin-off has been greater participation from the local media, placing ever more scrutiny on Saudi society. Journalists were invited to report on sessions at the Majlis al-Shoura (consultative council) for the first time last year. Government ministries have also begun staging press conferences and briefings to keep journalists in the loop.

'The situation has changed a lot over the last three or four years,' says Khaled al-Maeena, editor-in-chief of Jeddah-based daily Arab News. 'The parameters of the media have changed whereby we are finding more freedom of expression. We are discussing issues that were never discussed before. People are talking about accountability. Newspapers are highlighting social and economic problems that never used to see the light of day.'

Freedom of expression

To all intents and purposes, the government still controls the local media. The kingdom has more than a dozen privately owned independent Arabic and English-language daily newspapers. However, the senior management must still be appointed or approved by the Information Ministry. There is no legal framework prohibiting freedom of expression, but editors and writers refrain from attacking the government or the royal family.

'You have to take into consideration the whole social and cultural atmosphere,' says a foreign journalist based in Riyadh. 'You can expose people's private lives or criticise politicians in Europe or the US, but here there is a cultural barrier. Inmany cases it is the people who react if the reporting is too open, rather than the government.'

Al-Ikhbariya

There are signs that the authorities are beginning to concede some ground. In 2004, state-run television launched its own news channel, Al-Ikhbariya, which is primarily aimed at rivalling regional news channels, but also international broadcasters such as CNN. The channel's objective is to report the news from a Saudi perspective. While it may sound like a state-run propaganda channel, the broadcaster is adamant it is offering a viable alternative to other commercial networks.

'The aim of Saudi Arabia's fourth state-run TV channel is to present a new image of the Gulf Arab state,' explained general manager Mohammed Barayan at the channel's launch last June. 'The American media puts out things about Saudi Arabia that are not true. We want to tell the world about our country, to give a new image.'

The channel has