Al Akhbar (Lebanon)
Left-wing
leans March 8 Alliance Anti-Zionist | |
Language | Arabic |
---|---|
Headquarters | Rue Verdun, Beirut |
Website | al-akhbar |
Al Akhbar (
History and profile
The newspaper began to be published and distributed in 2006,[4] and is registered with the same license of the paper of the same name, established in 1953, owned by Akhbar Beirut S.A.L. (News of Beirut). It was established by the late Joseph Samaha (a leftist intellectual and former editor-in-chief of As-Safir)[5] and Ibrahim Al Amin (also a leftist journalist and political analyst). A 2009 survey by Ipsos Stat established that the daily is among the five most popular newspapers in Beirut.[6]
In December 2010, Al Akhbar received and published an advance copy of the
On 18 July 2011 the paper together with As Safir, another daily published in Lebanon, was banned in Syria.[11]
Al Akhbar's English-language website ended operations on 6 March 2015, and plans to shift to a print newspaper were cancelled, in part due to a lack of funds.[12]
Orientation
Al Akhbar declares its political orientation as independent and progressive, supporting movements working for independence, freedom, and social justice, and
In 2010, Ibrahim Al Amine, editorial chairman of Al Akhbar, described the founding ambitions of the newspaper: "We wanted the U.S. ambassador to wake up in the morning, read it and get upset.”
New York Times journalist Mark Ashurst described the newspaper as having "close links to the government" of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria."[24] A reporter for the same newspaper, Robert Worth in 2010, wrote that Al Akhbar newspaper "has become the most dynamic and daring in Lebanon, and perhaps anywhere in the Arab world," but criticized the publication for "news pages that often show a loose mingling of fact, rumor and opinion."[18]
Controversies
Max Blumenthal
Max Blumenthal joined Al Akhbar in late 2011 primarily to write about Israel-Palestine issues and foreign-policy debates in Washington.
Blumenthal left Al Akhbar in June 2012 in protest at Al Akhbar's coverage of the
Blumenthal has since changed his position on Syria and apologized to Sharmine Narwani and other editors he had criticized in 2012.[25][28]
Special Tribunal for Lebanon
On 31 January 2014, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon for the assassination of the Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri indicted the newspaper and its editor Ibrahim Mohamed Al Amin, ordering them to answer various charges in front of the court. The newspaper was fined €6,000 [29][30] Al Amin completed sentence of €20,000 fine on 14 August 2014. Both fines were for contempt of court.[31][30]
References
- ^ "Al Akhbar". The Arab Press Network. Archived from the original on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
- ^ "Amal Saad-Ghorayeb". Al-Akhbar English. Archived from the original on 26 February 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
- ^ "Sharmine Narwani". Al-Akhbar English. Archived from the original on 13 March 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
- ^ "Lebanon. Media Landscape". European Journalism Center. Archived from the original on 8 September 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
- ^ Dot-Pouillard, Nicolas. "Joseph Samaha's reflections on nationalism, the left and Islam". The New Arab.
- ^ "Mapping Digital Media: Lebanon" (PDF). Open Society Foundations. 15 March 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
- ^ Lebanese paper's website attacked over WikiLeaks Associated Press, 9 December 2010
- ^ a b "Al-Akhbar newspaper shuts down website following hack attack". The Daily Star. 10 December 2010. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
- ^ "WikiLeaks publishes 1.7 million "Kissinger Cables"". Al Akhbar. 9 April 2013. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
- ^ "Forbes Releases Top 50 MENA Online Newspapers; Lebanon Fails to Make Top 10". Jad Aoun. 28 October 2010. Archived from the original on 29 July 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
- ^ "Press and Cultural Freedom in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine" (Annual report). SKeyes. 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
- ^ "Al-Akhbar pulls plug on English site". The Daily Star. 6 March 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
- ^ "About Us". Al Akbar. Archived from the original on 18 January 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
- ^ a b "On Ziad Rahbani, Al Akhbar, and the Left". Al Akhbar English. 1 January 2013. Archived from the original on 20 February 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
- ^ خاص بمناسبة مئويّة اليوم العالمي للمرأة: نصف العالم أنـصاف مواطنات Archived 2 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine Al Akhbar, 8 March 2010
- ^ ماذا لو كان ابني مثلياً؟ Al Akhbar, 20 June 2009
- ^ A Comprehensive Guide to Lebanese Media Deen Sharp, issuu, 2009
- ^ a b c d Worth, Robert F. (29 December 2010). "A Rarity in Its Region, a Lebanese Paper Dares to Provoke". The New York Times. p. 4.
- ^ a b "Heroic Journalism in Lebanon? Ex-Envoy Disagrees". The New York Times. 9 January 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
- ^ "Hamadeh denounces Al-Akhbar threats against his life". Ya Libnan. 22 January 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
- ^ Beirut is the new Beirut The Wall Street Journal, 2 December 2010
- ^ Nasrallah on Syria Archived 10 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine As'ad AbuKhalil, Al Akhbar, 26 July 2012
- ^ Nasrallah’s Speech on Palestine Archived 10 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine As'ad AbuKhalil, Al Akhbar, 6 August 2013
- ^ Ashurst, Mark M. (11 July 2012). "Purported Minutes Show Assad Skeptical of Annan Peace Plan". The New York Times. Russia; Syria. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
- ^ a b Di Giovanni, Janine (16 October 2018). "Why Assad and Russia Target the White Helmets". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
- ^ a b c d e The Real News, 22 June 2012, Max Blumenthal Resigns Al Akhbar Over Syria Coverage
- ^ Blumenthal, Max (20 June 2012). "The right to resist is universal: A farewell to Al Akhbar and Assad's apologists". Max Blumenthal. Archived from the original on 8 January 2014.
I was forced to conclude that unless I was prepared to spend endless stores of energy jousting with Assad apologists, I was merely providing them cover by keeping my name and reputation associated with Al Akhbar.
- ^ "Syria is not Palestine; anti-Salafism/Wahhabism is not Islamophobia - with Rania Khalek (Ep. 18)". Moderate Rebels podcast- SoundCloud.
- ^ "STL-14-06/S/CJ: In the Case against Akhbar Beirut S.A.L. and Ibrahim Mohamed Al Amin Reasons for Sentencing Judgment" (PDF). STL. 5 September 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
- ^ a b "STL-14-06/I/CJ: In the Case against Akhbar Beirut S.A.L. and Ibrahim Mohamed Al Amin Redacted Version of Decision in Proceedings for Contempt with Orders in Lieu of an Indictment" (PDF). STL. 31 January 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
- ^ "STL-14-06/ES/CJ: In the Case against Akhbar Beirut S.A.L. and Ibrahim Mohamed Al Amin Order Lifting Confidentiality" (PDF). STL. 12 October 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2018.