Alqabas

Al-Qabas (Arabic: القبس‎) (English: the Firebrand or the Starbrand)[1] is an Arabic daily Kuwaiti newspaper and tabloid published by Dar Al Qabas Press Printing Publishing and Distribution Company in Kuwait City.[2]

Al-Qabas
القبس
TypeDaily newspaper, tabloid
Owner(s)Al-Nusif, Al-Kharafi, Al-Bahar, Al-Shaya families
PublisherDar Al-Qabas Press Printing, Publishing and Distribution Company
Editor-in-chiefWalid Al-Nisef
Associate editorAbdullah Ghazi Almudhaf
Founded22 February 1972 (1972-02-22)
Political alignmentReflecting owners' interests
LanguageArabic
HeadquartersKuwait City
WebsiteOfficial website

History and Profile

Pre-Gulf War

Al-Qabas was launched on 22 February 1972.[3] The founding shareholders of Al Qabas, according to the founding contract as printed in the official gazette "Kuwait Al-Yawm" are Kuwaiti Sunni merchant families Al-Nusif, Al-Kharafi, Al-Bahar, Al-Shaya, and Al-Saqer.[4][5] The paper is headquartered in Kuwait City.[6]

Al-Qabas' early days were characterized by Mohammed Al-Sager, who had been its dynamic editor-in-chief since 1982 until his election in the Kuwait National Assembly in 1999. With his experience in international finance, Al-Sager had set up an international edition that was published in Paris, London and Marseilles (for the North African market). The paper had maintained the most extensive foreign correspondent staff of any Kuwaiti newspaper with large bureaus in Washington, London, Beirut, Cairo, and Moscow.

Post-Gulf War

After the liberation of Kuwait, Al Qabas discontinued its international editions.[7] During the invasion it moved to London and was first published there on 2 August 1990.[7]

Al Qabas had a weekly supplement on environmental issues, which can be translated into English as Our Environment is Our Life.[8]

The daily had a circulation of 120,000 copies before the invasion of Kuwait in 1991.[9] Its 2001 circulation was 79,000 copies and the paper was the third best selling newspaper in Kuwait.[9][10] The paper also began its online edition which had 30,000 weekly hits in 2001.[9]

Political stance and staff

Al Qabas had a critical approach to government of Kuwait[11] and is a liberal publication.[9] In April 2012, it published an editorial calling for ending the struggle within the ruling family of Kuwait, Al Sabah.[4]

The paper's editor, Mohammed Al-Sager, is a winner of the International Press Freedom Award of the Committee to Protect Journalists "for courageous reporting on political and human rights issues in the face of government threats of censorship and prosecution".[12]

The other significant editors of the daily include Abdel Latif Al Duaaij and Ahmad Bishara.[11] The Palestinian cartoonist Naji Salim al-Ali worked for the paper in the 1980s and he was killed in 1987 while working for the London edition of the daily.[13][14]

Respected Arab figures also contributed to the daily, including Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz and Egyptian philosopher Fauad Zakara.[7]

Present Day

In 2007, Mohammed Al-Sager launched a competing newspaper, Al-Jarida, and the Al-Sager family subsequently divested their ownership in Al Qabas to the remaining four families.

Tabloid style

Under the leadership of its Deputy Editor in Chief and head of its digital edition, Abdullah Ghazi Almudhaf, a son-in-law of Jassem Al-Kharafi whose family is an owner of Al Qabas, the paper has since 2018 adopted a sensationalist tabloid style, publishing a mix of real and fake news in both its print and online editions, often citing "informed" unknown sources in its local news reporting. Despite its liberal roots, Al Qabas today serves as a platform for both liberal causes and socially and religious conservative groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood. Al Qabas does not maintain a fixed ideological position, rather, Al Qabas' stance reflects the shifting political alliances and interests of its owners.

Digital edition

In 2019, Al Qabas launched a premium digital subscription service, producing video content for subscribers. Its flagship show, The Black Box (Arabic: الصندوق الأسود) featured 32 interviews with controversial former Kuwaiti MP and academic Dr. Abdullah Al-Nafisi.[15]

References
  1. Barrie Gunter; Roger Dickinson (2013). News Media in the Arab World: A Study of 10 Arab and Muslim Countries. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-4411-0239-3.
  2. Al-Qabas Newspaper
  3. Kjetil Selvik (2011). "Elite Rivalry in a Semi-Democracy: The Kuwaiti Press Scene". Middle Eastern Studies. 47 (3): 477–496. doi:10.1080/00263206.2011.565143.
  4. "Kuwait daily urges end to royal infighting". Ahram Online. AFP. 15 April 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  5. "Dar Al-Qabas Press Printing, Publishing and Distribution Company, Kuwait - Company Information, Key People, Latest News and Contact Details - ZAWYA MENA Edition". www.zawya.com. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  6. "Sources". Al Monitor. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  7. Sheila Rule (23 August 1990). "A Kuwaiti Newspaper Reopens in London". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  8. Najib Saab. "The Environment in Arab Media" (PDF). Arab Forum for Environment and Development. Archived from the original (Report) on 10 October 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  9. "Kuwait". Press Reference. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  10. "World Press Trends" (PDF). World Association of Newspapers. Paris. 2004. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  11. "Kuwait". The Arab Press network. Archived from the original on 8 August 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  12. "CPJ Deplores Sentencing of Two Journalists by Kuwait". Committee to Protect Journalists. 25 July 1998. Archived from the original on 3 June 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
  13. On this day 1987: Cartoonist shot in London street Retrieved November 2010 BBC.
  14. Abdelwahab Affendi (Summer 1993). "Eclipse of Reason: The Media in the Muslim World". Journal of International Affairs. 47 (1). Retrieved 29 September 2013. – via Questia (subscription required)
  15. "العرض الأول من «الصندوق الأسود».. عبر «القبس بريميوم»". جريدة القبس الإلكتروني (in Arabic). 7 September 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2020.

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