Al Bayan Newspaper’s Experience in Book Publishing

Abstract

This article presents Al Bayan newspaper’s experience in book publishing as an extension of its journalistic and cultural role in supporting books and reading. The author explains that the project benefited from Al Bayan’s institutional nature as a press, printing, publishing, and distribution organization, which provided technical and organizational capacities to support local authors and make their works available to readers inside and outside the UAE. The article discusses the “Book for All” initiative, which issued a series of intellectually and culturally valuable books at affordable prices in cooperation with Arab publishing institutions, with the aim of expanding readership and making knowledge accessible to the general public. It also presents “Bayan Al-Kutub” as a cultural and media supplement concerned with the world of books, introducing Arab and international publications and following publishing activity. The article concludes by examining obstacles facing the Arab book industry, including high printing costs, weak distribution, declining reading habits, and limited marketing, making the article an institutional testimony to the relationship between journalism, book publishing, and knowledge dissemination.