Oman Observer: The story of a digital shift (1997–2026)

Detailed summary

Over almost thirty years, Oman Observer has grown from a newspaper site refreshed once a day into a digital news operation spanning many ...

Over almost thirty years, Oman Observer has grown from a newspaper site refreshed once a day into a digital news operation spanning many platforms, widening its online publishing, mobile services, multimedia output and audience reach. The newspaper went online in 1997, the same year internet services came to Oman. In the early years, the site was refreshed once a day at 12.00 pm, which marked the start of the publication reaching readers past its traditional print audience.

The first goal was to bring news from Oman to readers abroad, especially Omani embassies and students studying in other countries. Qais bin Abdulrahim bin Saleh al Saleh, who joined the establishment in 1997, remembered that the chief aim of bringing in internet services was to carry news from Oman to Omani embassies and Omani students studying abroad. Al Saleh, a founding member of the internet Section—also called the International Information Network Section—remembered that in its early days the section concentrated on local news. This early online presence gave the newspaper a new way to distribute its work, while the printed edition stayed its main publication.

In the years that followed, online publishing grew step by step as internet access and social media changed the way readers got their news. The newspaper's digital side grew past simply copying print content, with more focus on online distribution, visual material and talking directly with readers. In 2021, the website was relaunched with a new design and separate sections for Oman, Business, Features, Sports, World, Opinion, Videos, Podcasts, E-paper and Classifieds. The changes reached the newsroom as well. The online team started managing the news flow on its own, working straight with reporters to publish breaking news and updates made specifically for the website.

Video production and graphic content became more and more important to the operation. The video team made daily news videos and documentaries, while a dedicated graphics…

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Opening of the article, excerpted from Oman Observer. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.