Al Anwar

Al Anwar (Arabic: الانوار‎) (English translation: The Lights) was an Arabic daily newspaper published in Lebanon.[1] It was founded in 1959 and was one of the leading dailies in Lebanon.[2][3]

Al Anwar
Al Anwar front page (11 July 2016)
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
Founder(s)Said Freiha
PublisherDar Assayad publishing house
Editor-in-chiefRafiq Khoury
Founded1959 (1959)
Political alignmentNon-affiliated; centrist
LanguageArabic
Ceased publication2018 (2018)
HeadquartersBeirut
Circulation49,043 (2012)
OCLC number35739476
WebsiteAnwar

In October 2018, the publisher Dar Assayad announced ceasing of the print edition of the publication after 58 years of continuous publishing.[4] Dar Assayad also ceased the publication of its line of long-running periodicals such as its newsweekly magazine Assayad, its arts and entertainment weekly Achabaka, its women monthly Fayrouz, men monthly Al Fares and defense military monthly Al Difa' Al Arabi amongst others.

History and profile

Al Anwar was launched by publishing house Dar Assayad in 1959.[5][6][7] The publishing house also owns nine daily, weekly and monthly publications, including Assayad magazine.[8][9] The founder of the daily was Said Freiha who was an advocate of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser.[8][10] The headquarters of the paper is in Beirut.[11]

At its initial phase, Al Anwar had just eight pages.[8] The daily launched its website in 1996.[12] It is published in broadsheet format.[13]

Orientation

Al Anwar claimed that it reinforced the long-term stability and prosperity of Lebanon.[14] It was described by BBC as an independent and centrist daily.[15] It is further argued that the paper avoids aggressive reporting.[16] However, during and after the Nasser era the paper had a pro-Egyptian stance.[17] In the mid-1990s the paper was considered to have an Arab nationalist trend.[18] In 2009, IREX, an international research board, regarded it as one of the advocates of the 14 March alliance.[3]

Staff and content

The editor-in-chief of Al Anwar is Rafiq Khoury and its managing editor is Fouad Daaboul.[14] Palestinian journalist and writer Ghassan Kanafani served in the editorial board of the paper from 1967 to 1969.[19]

The daily covers both Lebanese and Arabic affairs.[20] The last page of the daily includes sports and social news.[14]

Following the assassination of the former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, the daily published three articles from 16 to 18 February 2005 the first two of which were written by editor-in-chief, Khoury.[21] The last one was a commentary titled "The mentality of the paupers and a regime in coma" and was written by Rauf Shahuri.[21] All articles condemned the assassination.[21] In August 2013 the paper criticized the possible US-led intervention against Syria and stated the intervention would be like "Hollywood's action and horror movies".[22]

Circulation and audience

In addition to its native readers in Lebanon, Al Anwar was read by officials, intellectuals and activists outside Lebanon.[23] It was distributed in other Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and the UAE.[24]

In the 1980s Al Anwar had wide circulation in East Beirut.[25] Its popularity in East Beirut continued until the 2000s.[26] The circulation of the paper was 20,000 copies in 2003 and it was the fourth best selling Lebanese newspaper.[13]

In a 2006 study carried out by Ipsos, it was found that Al Anwar had lower circulation in capital Beirut than other regions.[27] In the capital the paper was the sixth among seven dailies, having daily circulation at 10.7%.[27] However, it was the second daily with 12.6% in the Biqa region after Sada al-Balad which had 12.7% of the daily circulation.[27] In Mount Lebanon Al Anwar was the fifth daily, having 38.4% of the daily circulation, whereas in southern Lebanon it was the third with 15.2% of the daily circulation.[27]

Based on the data provided by the DAS research group the daily reported its average net daily sales in 2012 as 49.043 copies.[24] The daily had a circulation of 6,003 copies in Europe in 2012.[24] The same year the website of Al Anwar had 1.1 million hits and 63,010 visitors per month.[24]

Awards

Al Anwar was awarded by different bodies, including the UNESCO Prize for Social Reporting and Columbia University's James Wechsler Award for best international reporting.[14]

See also

References
  1. "Lebanon Press". Press Reference. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  2. "Al Anwar". Arabo. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  3. "Media sustainability index 2008" (PDF). IREX. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 July 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  4. "Lebanese Free Speech Goes Down by Notches as Another Newspaper Closes Down". Albawaba. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  5. "Al Anwar". The Arab Press Network. Archived from the original on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  6. "Media Landscape". Menassat. Archived from the original on 20 February 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  7. Anis Moussalem. "The Great Stages of the Lebanese Press". Opus Libani. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  8. "Dar Assayad's Publications". B. Freiha. Archived from the original on 26 September 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  9. "Renowned journalist, poet Al-Eben passes away". The Daily Star. Beirut. 5 November 2012. p. 4. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  10. Elie Hajj (26 April 2013). "Pierre Sadek Defended the Right to Criticize Until His Dying Breath". Al Monitor. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  11. The Middle East and North Africa 2003. Psychology Press. 2002. p. 737. ISBN 978-1-85743-132-2.
  12. Dale F. Eickelman; Jon W. Anderson (1 July 2003). New media in the Muslim world: the emerging public sphere. Indiana University Press. pp. 63–65. ISBN 978-0-253-34252-2. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  13. "World Press Trends" (PDF). World Association of Newspapers. Paris. 2004. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  14. "About Al Anwar". Promo Prints. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  15. "Regional press sees little point in Obama visit". BBC. 21 March 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  16. "Al Anwar newspaper". Knowledge View. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  17. "Egyptian coup was slated for Sunday". Star News. Beirut. UPI. 17 May 1971. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  18. Yahya R. Kamalipour; Hamid Mowlana (1994). Mass Media in the Middle East: A Comprehensive Handbook. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Retrieved 9 September 2013.  – via Questia (subscription required)
  19. Philip Mattar (2005). Encyclopedia of the Palestinians. Infobase Publishing. p. 275. ISBN 978-0-8160-6986-6.
  20. "Al Anwar Newspaper, Lebanon". Lebweb. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  21. "Lebanese press condemns assassination of former PM Al Hariri". BBC Monitoring International Reports. 21 February 2005. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  22. "Middle East press apprehensive over Syria". BBC. 29 August 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  23. Edmund Ghareeb (Summer 2000). "New Media and the Information Revolution in the Arab World: An Assessment" (PDF). The Middle East Journal. 54 (3): 395–418. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 March 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  24. "2013 Media data advertising rates" (PDF). Al Anwar. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  25. Harris, William (July–August 1985). "Syria in Lebanon". MERIP. MER134 (15). Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  26. "Legacy of the siege of Beirut". BBC. 27 March 2002. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  27. "Lebanon: Surveys show Beirut's Sada al-Balad most widely circulated paper". BBC Monitoring. 19 October 2006. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
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