Waleed Al-Nafees and the Humility of the Great

Colleague Waleed Al-Naif, Editor-in-Chief of the Al-Qabas newspaper, stated in an interview with Lebanon’s An-Nahar newspaper, following his win of the Media Personality of the Year award at the Arab Media Summit organized by the Dubai Press Club, how Al-Qabas successfully navigated its digital transformation. He spoke humbly about the role of young professionals in this process, without attributing the achievement to himself. At 81 years old, he continues to lead the Al-Qabas institution and its affiliated platforms with extraordinary success, playing the role of an inspiring leader who prepares the ground for young staff and then leaves them to make the best decisions. Since assuming the role of Editor-in-Chief in 1999, at the age of 54, the world and journalism have undergone radical changes. Yet, his youthful spirit remains unchanged, approaching every challenge with a contemporary mindset and modern tools. He has been able to understand the transformations at each stage and address them in a systematic and creative manner, transforming Al-Qabas from merely an influential Arab newspaper into one of the best global models of digital transformation in journalism. I recall that I was one of his critics on social media before joining Al-Qabas as an Archival Publishing Consultant. Nevertheless, he welcomed me and provided me with all the support and assistance needed, until we achieved, praise be to God, the first success in the digital transformation plan: the “Al-Qabas Premium” project. This was the first of its kind in Kuwait, the Gulf, and the Arab world, as we at Al-Qabas succeeded in transitioning the Kuwaiti, Gulf, and Arab audiences to the stage of purchasing journalistic content through monthly subscriptions. We congratulate Professor Waleed Al-Naif once again on receiving the Media Personality of the Year award at the Arab Media Summit, currently being held in Dubai. This award adds to the Sheikh Salem Al-Ali Al-Sabah Award for Informatization, which the Al-Qabas Media Institution received in recognition of its success in digital transformation. May God bless you, Abu Abdul Latif, with good health and well-being always. Dahim Al-Qahtani