KnowledgeView

Awan of Kuwait was first published on 18 November 2006, with Dr. Mohammed Al-Rumaihi as founder and chief editor. The completion of the pioneering Newsroom, designed by KnowledgeView, took a record 5 months from a May start in a derelict Warehouse. This was followed by installing and training Awan’s journalists on KnowledegView’s Publish live system in readiness for publication of a daily Kuwaiti newspaper and Web site.

Dr. Al-Rumaihi wanted a newspaper with an emphasis on credible journalism appealing to the liberal opinion in Kuwait. He also encouraged creative journalism through participatory journalistic practices hence his insistence on a convergent Newsroom mode of work. Awan soon became a ‘Mecca’ for Arab publishers wanting to learn, helping other Arab publishers along the path of efficient multi-publishing from a convergent Newsroom.

That Awan was forced to close is due in large measure to declining advertising revenues in the relatively small market of Kuwait where advertisers preferred the safety of the established newspapers. It was by no means a failure of a pioneering and successful journalistic experiment. In his farewell message to Awan journalists Dr. Al-Rumaihi said ” farewell to our readers that were our wide base to provide professional news service that attempts to explain what goes on around us”. No doubt we will see more from Awan publishers and its journalists in the months ahead, and we thank them for their trust in KnowledgeView’s technology and its services.