Al-Balad (newspaper)

Al-Balad (Arabic: البلد, lit. 'The Country') officially Sada Al-Balad (Arabic: صدى البلد, lit. 'The Echo of the Country') was an Arabic-language daily newspaper in Lebanon.[1] It was headquartered in Beirut[2] and was published as a tabloid commercial paper.[3]

Al Balad
Front page of Al-Balad on 4 March 2006
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatTabloid
Owner(s)Al Waseet International
United Group for Publishing Advertising and Marketing
PublisherAl Wataniya
Founded15 December 2003 (2003-12-15)
Political alignmentLiberal
LanguageArabic
French
Ceased publication2018
HeadquartersBeirut, Lebanon
Sister newspapersBaladna (Syria)
Websitewww.albaladonline.com

History

Al Balad was first published on 15 December 2003,[4][5] offering a myriad of prizes to lure subscribers "in exchange for largely insipid centrist news and popular society pages."[6] The first editor-in-chief was Béchara Charbel, a former graphic designer.[7] The first CEO was Bachar Kiwan, one of the owners of the newspaper.[8] The paper had a liberal-centrist stance.[8] In 2004, the newspaper started charging a subscription fee. Soon after, a series of crises (United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559 and the assassination of Rafic Hariri) left Lebanese citizens thirsting for political and security-related news which Al Balad hadn't provided,[7] which led to the newspaper dismissing its staff and shutting down in 2005.[6]

Other editions

Al Balad published a French edition in 2008 which lasted for three years before being shut down for financial reasons.[6][9] Al Balad also published a French edition in the Comoros through United Group (UG) affiliate Comoro Gulf Holding (CGH).[10] In 2008, Al Balad was launched in Kuwait and was subsequently shut down.[11]

Closure

The newspaper reopened in 2010 but shut down again by 2018 after not paying its staff.[1][12] In 2018, the staff of Al Balad tweeted from the official Twitter account of the newspaper, asking for the restoration of their rights and benefits that were "swindled" from them by the owners of the newspaper, Majd Suleiman and Bachar Kiwan.

Al Balad News Twitter
@AlBaladNewsAR

Arabic: موظفو جريدة البلد متكتفون لا حول لهم ولا قوة ينتظرون معجزة الهية ترد حقوقهم التي نصبها عليهم أصحاب الجريدة..والأهم أنهم يتجولون في باريس و دبي غير آبهين بمصير الموظفين..و الدولة في نوم عميق لم تسمع لهم نداء ولا مناجاة ..Bashar Kiwan Majd Suleiman

The employees of Al Balad newspaper are bound and helpless, waiting for a divine miracle to restore their [rights/benefits] that the owners of the newspaper swindled from them... and most importantly, they wander around Paris and Dubai, not caring about the fate of the employees... and the State is in a deep sleep, an appeal or plea was not heard from them .. Bashar Kiwan Majd Suleiman

7 October 2018[13]

Ownership

Al Balad is owned by United Group for Publishing and Advertising (through its affiliate Al Waseet International),[14] the Syrian media conglomerate owned by the Syrian businessmen Majd Suleiman and Bachar Kiwan, seen as the media arm of the Assad regime in various Arab countries.[15]

The publisher of the daily was Al Wataniya Publishing House.[2][5][7]

Brand

Al Balad's logo, the Arabic letter ب set in white across a red backdrop is identical to the logo of the United Group (UG)'s Syrian newspaper Baladna.

Circulation

In 2006, a study carried out by Ara'a Company with 2500 participants concluded that Al Balad was read by 18.3% of Lebanese over 15 years of age, being the first in this regard.[16] In the same study it was also found that the paper was the second most popular paper in Lebanon after An Nahar.[16] The Ipsos study in 2006 revealed that Al-Balad had the largest rate of subscribers with 23.8% whereas An Nahar had only 2.6%.[16] The paper was also found to have highest circulation in Lebanon in 2006.[16] A 2009 survey by Ipsos Stat also established that the daily was among the five most popular newspapers in Beirut.[3]

The paper's online version was the 42nd most visited website for 2010 in the MENA region.[17]

See also

References
  1. "Transparency". Media Ownership Monitor. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  2. "Media Landscape". Menassat. Archived from the original on 20 February 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  3. "Mapping Digital Media: Lebanon" (PDF). Open Society Foundations. 15 March 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  4. "Lebanon. Media Landscape". European Journalism Center. Archived from the original on 8 September 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  5. "Profile of MEPA Member" (PDF). MEPA. 14 (14). 1 May 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 January 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  6. Routledge handbook on Arab media. Noureddine Miladi, Noha Mellor. Abingdon, Oxon. 2021. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-429-76290-1. OCLC 1164821650.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. El-Richani, Sarah (2016). The Lebanese media : anatomy of a system in perpetual crisis. New York. p. 107. ISBN 978-1-137-60183-4. OCLC 967268643.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. "Newspaper Launches" (PDF). SFN Flash. 7 (1). 7 January 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  9. "The End of the French Al-Balad". Skeyes Media | Center for Media and Cultural Freedom. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  10. "Bashar Kiwan burns his fingers". Africa Intelligence. 9 October 2010.
  11. Funding War Crimes - Syrian Businessmen Who Kept Assad Going https://pro-justice.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Businessmen-en-ebook-1_9069-1_removed-1.pdf
  12. "Law and Practice". Media Ownership Monitor. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  13. Al Balad News [@AlBaladNewsAR] (7 October 2018). "موظفو جريدة البلد متكتفون لا حول لهم ولا قوة ينتظرون معجزة الهية ترد حقوقهم التي نصبها عليهم أصحاب الجريدة..والأهم أنهم يتجولون في باريس و دبي غير آبهين بمصير الموظفين..و الدولة في نوم عميق لم تسمع لهم نداء ولا مناجاة ..Bashar Kiwan Majd Suleiman" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. "Many voices". The Business Year. 2012. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  15. Lazkani, Alimar (23 November 2018). "Local Actors in the Syrian Coastal Area: Characteristics and Prospects". Arab Reform Initiative.
  16. "Lebanon: Surveys show Beirut's Sada al-Balad most widely circulated paper". BBC Monitoring. 19 October 2006. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  17. "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.
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