Press Office for details

The Press Office of the British Embassy in Riyadh offers local journalists a first point of contact fo information on all aspects of Britain and UK policies. We can also provide information on and access to a variety of services in specific areas, which are listed in the links to the right of this page. We also aim to publicise important aspects of Britain’s relationship with Saudi Arabia and projects run by the Embassy in co-operation with the Saudi government and other partners.

Overview of our activities

The Press Office maintains mailing lists of journalists who receive ournews releases and other information material and/ or invitations to attend events organised by the Embassy such as:

· Background briefings on UK policy

· Press conferences

· Exhibitions

· Commercial events

· Press releases and major speeches

· Background briefing material

Contact Details:

Tel: +966 (0) 1 488 0077
Fax: +966 (0) 1 488 2373
Email Press and Public Affairs Section  

Press Officer: Nick Heath

Information Officer: Salah Taha
Information Assistant: Aseel Bakr

London Press Service

London Press Service (LPS) is a weekly news service produced by a major British news agency, the Press Association. It comprises the LPS "Weekly Newsletter" and the "This Week in Britain" series. These contain news, features and pictures on industrial, technological, cultural and social developments in the UK. LPS items are available free of charge to journalists outside the UK, for publication in local media or to be used as a source for journalists' own articles

LPS Weekly Newsletter consists of:
· Feature articles (approx. 800-1000 words, usually illustrated)
· Picture-lead stories (photograph, accompanied by a 400-word article)

The LPS website contains a summary of the feature articles and illustrations of the photographs. The full texts and actual photographs are available to local journalists on request from the Embassy Press Office.

This Week in Britain is a series of newsletters containing short news items, which are published in full on the LPS website. The following titles are available:
· British Industrial News
· British Scientific and Medical News
· British Food Industry News
· Farming and Agricultural Developments in Britain
· British Information Technology News
· British Economic News in Brief

The LPS newsletters are also available to local journalists as a free subscription, either by post or by email, from the Embassy Press Office.

Special requests
Local editors may commission features to be written by experienced LPS journalists, tailored to their requirements. Arabic translations of few items are also available on request. Please note that articles can only be commissioned and / or translated if they are to be actually published in local media, and not for general information purposes only.

Photographs
Photographs for publication in local media are available via the London Press Service, as described above. In addition the Embassy Press Office can supply portrait photographs of members of the UK Government, Foreign & Commonwealth Office ministers, members of the Royal Family and Her Majesty's Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

Please note that, for copyright reasons, we may only supply photographs to the local press for the purpose of publication in Saudi Arabia,and not to private persons or for display purposes.

Tourism photographs of Britain are available from the Press Office of the British Tourist Authority in Dubai, which incorporates a photo archive of some 10,000 photographs and transparencies on British themes. For information please contact:

Trisha Lee - Travel Information
P O BOx 33342
Dubai, UAE
Tel: + 971 (04) 3355533 / 3350088 / 335332
Fax: + 971 (04) 3355335
 Email Trisha Lee  

Services for foreign journalists in the UK

The following organisations offer assistance to overseas journalists based in Britain:

Press Office
Press Office is the Foreign & Commonwealth News Department It publishes a daily bulletin on the FCO website and operates a 24 hour press inquiry line on 02070083100.

London Correspondents Service
The London Correspondents Service (LCS) is a section within the Foreign & Commonwealth Office specialising in services for correspondents for foreign media who are based in the UK. LCS offers assistance and advice on a variety of issues, arranges background briefings, press tours, discussions and visits throughout Britain.

Foreign Press Association
The Foreign Press Association (FPA) is the London centre for foreign correspondents. It provides a wide range of facilities for foreign journalists who are resident in or visiting Britain, including issuing press cards under the national press card scheme.
Further information is available on the FPA website

TV and Radio Services

This page contains information on the following television, radio and news services, which are available to local journalists:

British Satellite News (BSN)

BSN is a television news service produced by Associated Press Television News (APTN) on behalf of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. It provides news and feature reports on topics of international interest, free of charge to broadcasters worldwide. It is also available to overseas TV correspondents based in Britain.

All reports are prepared for international use (without commentary), and a written guide script is produced for broadcasters who wish to use their own reporters to present the reports. Foreign broadcasters may use the reports in any of their programming and can also archive the material for future use.

The reports are transmitted daily from Monday to Friday, direct by satellite to subscribers. For further information on this free service, together with transmission times and technical details on how to access BSN, please see the BSN website or contact the Embassy Press Office.

London Television Service (LTS)

LTS produces and distributes TV documentaries and magazines on behalf of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. Main subject areas are science and technology, current affairs, life & events in the UK and Europe, biography & lifestyle, business, fashion and design.
Programmes include:
· UK Today, a lively monthly magazine on life and events in the UK
· Perspectives, an award-winning series on science & technology
· Inside Britain, a series on aspects of modern British society
All programmes can be supplied for broadcast and non-broadcast use, in various formats.

For further details visit the LTS website or contact the Embassy Press Office.

London Radio Service (LRS)

LRS is a radio service produced by Associated Press Television News (APTN) on behalf of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. It offers an award-winning daily news service for use free of charge by radio stations around the world. Each news bulletin contains up to six British stories chosen for international appeal and interest. The news service can be transmitted to broadcasters via the LRS website, AudioTex digital news storage system, ISDN and conventional telephone transmission.

LRS also produces a range of weekly international radio programmes, including:
· Money Matters: international business and financial news
· New Horizons: latest developments in science, technology, medicine & computing from the UK
· Eco-Watch: world environment & conservation
· UK/OK: youth programme aimed at 16-25 age range on music, fashion, sport, travel, education and more

All LRS programmes may be broadcast in their entirety or edited for use in broadcasters' own programmes. They are delivered to broadcasters free of charge on either 1/4" tape, compact cassette, Digital Audio Tape or Compact Disc.

For further details visit the LRS website or call the Embassy Press Office

BBC World Service Radio

The BBC World Service is the world's leading international broadcaster, reaching a global weekly audience of some 140 million. Programmes cover world news, current affairs, business, entertainment and English language learning.

BBC World Service radio is available on short-wave radio, via satellite (Astra and Eutelsat) and live on the BBC World Service website.

In Saudi Arabia, you can tune into BBC World Service on the following short wave frequencies:

BBC ARABIC SERVICE FOR THE GULF (Shortwave Frequencies)

Time
Frequency

0330 - 0600
11740 - 15235

0330 - 0445
9874 - 9825

0445 - 0715
13660

0600 - 0715
12040

1200 - 1225
11820 - 15555

1225 - 1255
(Fri-Sat) 11820, 15555

BBC ENGLISH SERVICE FOR THE GULF (Shortwave Frequencies)

Time
Frequency

0200 - 0500
9410

1600 - 2100
9410

0300 - 0800
11760

0900 - 1400
11760

0300 - 0500
11955

1700 - 2000
11970

1500 - 2000
12095

0600 - 1700
15565

0400 - 0730 (0900 Sat & Sun) 0900 1500
15575

For information on programme schedules and detailed frequency charts please see the BBC World Service website

In addition to direct broadcasts from London, BBC World Service Radio works in partnership with a worldwide network of local and national radio stations which rebroadcast BBC English language teaching programmes. These are delivered via satellite and cable, with some programmes provided on tape. For further information please contact the Education Rebroadcasting Unit.

BBC Monitoring

BBC Monitoring provides open-source news and information to its customers, which include government, media organisations, academic institutions and commercial companies. Information is gathered by monitoring radio, TV, press, news agency and internet sources from around the world.

BBC Worldwide Television

BBC Worldwide Ltd is the commercial arm of the BBC, which broadcasts 2 television channels for Europe:
· BBC World: the BBC's international news and information channel

It is available via satellite.

TV facilities and correspondents service

The TV Facilities Unit within the Foreign & Commonwealth Office offers practical help and advice to foreign TV correspondents and visiting TV crews filming in the UK. This includes assistance in finding equipment hire, advice on filming permission etc, but does not include financial support. Please contact the British Embassy