A thank you note to all who helped make YT biweeklyIt’s all because of readers’ trust [Archives:2003/639/Viewpoint]

Editor

What you have in your hands is the first Thursday edition of Yemen Times. This edition -also called weekend edition- is a step we have taken because of your trust in us. I want to affirm to you all that this new edition is a direct result of your trust and confidence in our newspaper. On the other hand, this step is merely the beginning. We have far better ambitions, more plans, and of course, greater potentials for even more important steps to be taken in the future.
Yemen may be a small country with limited international influence, but nevertheless, in its own scope, it has great potentials and many things that make us all optimistic about the future. We realized those potentials in us, in our cadres and in our people. Most Yemenis are smart, hard working, dedicated, and honest. Yet guidance and training are needed to have us develop and prosper as a nation and country. This is what Yemen Times tried to demonstrate ever since it was established. It wants to show the world that Yemenis can do many good things. They can achieve if they want to. Any Yemeni newspaper can be as professional as any other newspaper in the region if we attempt to exploit its best abilities and work hard to achieve its goals. This step is one of many that would follow, and we have trust in ourselves and know we can achieve our goals.
Yemen Times was established in 1991 by Prof. Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Saqqaf -may his soul rest in peace- as a small newspaper that was 12 pages printed in two colors (Magenta and Black) But the growth it witnessed during the last 12 years was incredible. I cannot deny that the newspaper suffered tremendously because of many factors that are of political, economic, and social nature. Eventually however, we overcame all obstacles and have now risen strong despite the odds and challenges.
This edition of Yemen Times is historic in all aspects. It signals a positive development in Yemen's private press and it shows that a newspaper can indeed be independent, accurate, truthful and self-dependent financially.
There were times when the government would support the Yemen Times morally, but it never supported us financially. We would not have agreed on such support in the first place any way. We want to maintain our identity and independent stance. This is why we are able to write very critical articles against it. However, many officials realize that our criticism is objective and pinpoints problems and negative phenomena that can and should be corrected for a better Yemen.
I take this opportunity to thank all those who supported us to take this decision. I thank all our readers for their confidence and our staff for dedication and hard work. I also convey my utmost gratitude to our clients who have encouraged us all the way by enhancing cooperation between us for the benefit of both sides. I would also like to thank the Ministry of Information for all its support and the Yemeni political leadership for the moral encouragement, which helped us become Yemen's first biweekly English-language newspaper. The leadership knows that having a newspaper that is neutral, non-official, independent, trustworthy, responsible, critical, and strong is necessary for the development of our country, and I am sure we will continue to carry out our noble mission responsibly.
Now, we have a few days to prepare for the next issue, so until next Monday, I wish the very best to you all.

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