The Yemen Times () was an independent English-language newspaper in Yemen. The paper was published twice weekly.

History

1990–1999

The Yemen Times was founded in 1990 by Abdulaziz al-Saqqaf, an economics professor at Sanaa University, along with two assistants. The Times was among the dozens of newspapers founded in the wake of the reunification of Yemen and the new prospect of a democracy. Saqqaf registered the newspaper with the Ministry of Information and was granted Licence Number 9.

The first issue of the Yemen Times was published on 27 February 1991, focusing on Yemen and President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s stance of neutrality during the Gulf War, which had recently concluded. Reception to the first issue was generally positive, and within a few years the Times had become “Yemen’s most influential paper and the most successful commercially”, with numerous ministers, officials and politicians requesting interviews from it.

The Yemen Times routinely focused criticism on corrupt bureaucrats as opposed to President Saleh himself in order to not draw the ire of the government. However, this strategy was not always successful, as in one instance, armed tribesmen led by the governor of Shabwah’s son gathered outside the Times<nowiki/>'s office in protest after the paper had published an article exposing the governor for extorting money from local oil-related businesses. In another instance, the landowner of the Times’s office had invited its staff to lunch while Saqqaf was out of town before locking them out of the office, forcing them to find a new one. Saqqaf suspected that Saleh's comments may have been inspired by a recent copy of the Times in which it recalled how former president Ibrahim al-Hamdi had fought against corruption, in a subtle criticism of Saleh.

In November 1998, the Yemen Times published a front-page story with the large-written number "$22,500,000,000", referencing the total amount of money the Yemeni government had received over the previous 20 years. The article claimed that "a good part of the money" was pocketed by corrupt officials and authorities and allocated to civilians "who are part of the entourage of our political leadership." In the same month, the state filed a case against Saqqaf for “engaging in politically motivated misinformation” after the Ministry of Finance and the government’s auditors had failed to find any misallocated resources. The prosecution demanded an official retraction from the Yemen Times, a two-year suspension of its publishing licence and a six-month suspended jail sentence for Saqqaf.

Present

Since 2014, the newspaper was unable to continue issuing the printed version of the newspaper due to the Yemeni Civil War and was deemed defunct. The website said that it "hopes to resume when conditions permit.” As of 2024, the newspaper’s website acts as an archive of its own publications.

Awards

In 1995, the Yemen Times won the National Press Club's International Award for Freedom of the Press. Abdulaziz al-Saqqaf travelled to Washington D.C. to accept the award. In 2006, the International Press Institute awarded the Yemen Times its Free Media Pioneer Award. Board of directors member Raidan Al-Saqqaf accepted the award from Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell during a ceremony on 30 May, in what was described by the Times as "the most prestigious award ever given to a Yemeni newspaper." In December 2006, Nadia al-Sakkaf received the Gebran Tueni Award from the World Association of Newspapers at a ceremony in Lebanon.

See also

  • List of newspapers in Yemen
  • Media of Yemen

References

  • Official website
  • For a book review on Nushou' wa Tatawur Al-Sahafa fi Adan (the burgeoning and development of journalism in Aden), 1937–1967, by Abdulrahman Khobara (175 pages, published by Al-Amal for Printing and Publishing), see Yemen Times