Al Anwar (Lebanese newspaper)

History and profile

Al Anwar was launched by the publishing house Dar Assayad in 1959. The company also owned several daily, weekly and monthly publications, including Assayad magazine. The founder of the daily was Said Freiha who was an advocate of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. The headquarters of the paper was in Beirut.{{cite book|title=The Middle East and North Africa 2003

On 20 October 1962 Al Anwar and another newspaper Al Shaab were closed by the government for five days due to their alleged insults towards the heads of foreign countries.

During the early years Al Anwar had just eight pages.

Orientation

Al Anwar claimed that it reinforced the long-term stability and prosperity of Lebanon. The paper was one of the Lebanese publications in the early 1960s which called for the end of the Palestinian Amin al-Husseini's activities.{{cite book|author=Moshe Shemesh|title=The Palestinian National Revival: In the Shadow of the Leadership Crisis, 1937–1967

Al Anwar was described by BBC in 2013 as an independent and centrist daily. It is further argued that the paper avoided aggressive reporting.{{cite web|title=Al Anwar newspaper|url=http://www.knowledgeview.com/node/252

Staff and content

The editor-in-chief of Al Anwar was Rafiq Khoury and its managing editor was Fouad Daaboul. Issam Freiha was one of the editors-in-chief of the paper.{{cite book|title=Who's Who in Lebanon 2007–2008|year=2007|publisher=Publitec|location=Beirut; Munich

Al Anwar covered both Lebanese and Arabic affairs. At the very beginning of the civil war Al Anwar published statistical surveys of casualties. For instance, it reported that a total of 2314 people was killed between 13 April and 6 July 1975. The last page of the daily included sports and social news.

One of the major contributors of Al Anwar was former Saudi oil minister Abdullah Tariki who was living in Beirut after his removal from office. He published an open letter to the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, in Al Anwar on 19 May 1969.{{cite journal|title=Chronology May 16, 1969 – August 15, 1969|journal=The Middle East Journal|year=1969|volume=23|issue=4|page=521

Al Anwar published many significant interviews, including one with Saudi royal Prince Fahd, later King Fahd, in 1974.{{cite book|author=Victor McFarland|title=Oil Powers. A History of the U.S.-Saudi Alliance|year=2020|location=New York|page=5

Circulation and audience

In addition to its native readers in Lebanon, Al Anwar was read by officials, intellectuals and activists outside Lebanon.{{cite journal|author=Edmund Ghareeb|title=New Media and the Information Revolution in the Arab World: An Assessment|journal=The Middle East Journal

Al Anwar sold 35,000 copies at the beginning of the 1970s. In the 1980s the paper was frequently circulated in East Beirut.{{cite journal|author=William Harris|title=Syria in Lebanon|journal=MERIP|series=MER134|issue=15 |access-date=8 February 2015|location=Paris}}

In a 2006 study carried out by Ipsos, it was found that Al Anwar had lower circulation in capital Beirut than other regions.{{cite news|title=Lebanon: Surveys show Beirut's Sada al-Balad most widely circulated paper|access-date=22 September 2013

Based on the data provided by the DAS research group the daily reported its average net daily sales as 49.043 copies in 2012.{{cite web|title=2013 Media data advertising rates|work=Al Anwar|access-date=9 September 2013|archive-date=29 September 2013|url-status=dead

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.

References

References

1. "Home. Bassam Freiha". Website of Bassam Freiha.
2. (5 November 2012). "Renowned journalist, poet Al-Eben passes away". [[The Daily Star (Lebanon).
3. "Dar Assayad's Publications". B. Freiha.
4. Elie Hajj. (26 April 2013). "Pierre Sadek Defended the Right to Criticize Until His Dying Breath". [[Al-Monitor.
5. (Winter–Spring 1963). "Chronology September 16, 1962 – March 15, 1963". [[The Middle East Journal]].
6. "About ''Al Anwar''". Promo Prints.
7. Yousif Abdualla Al Yousif. (1993). "The PLO: Dynamic forces prompting changes in strategy and objectives".
8. Mark Ensalaco. (2008). "Middle Eastern Terrorism: From Black September to September 11". [[University of Pennsylvania Press]].
9. (21 March 2013). "Regional press sees little point in Obama visit". BBC.
10. (2007). "Who's Who in Lebanon 2007-2008". Publitec Publications.
11. "Al Anwar Newspaper, Lebanon". Lebweb.
12. Edgar O’Ballance. (1999). "Civil War in Lebanon, 1975–92". [[Palgrave Macmillan]].
13. (21 February 2005). "Lebanese press condemns assassination of former PM Al Hariri". BBC Monitoring International Reports.
14. (29 August 2013). "Middle East press apprehensive over Syria". [[BBC]].
15. Nabil H. Dajani. (August 1971). "The Press in Lebanon". Gazette.