''Al Anwar'' ( ar, الانوار, lit=The Lights) was an Arabic daily newspaper published in Beirut, Lebanon. It was founded in 1959 and was one of the leading dailies in Lebanon. In October 2018, the publisher Dar Assayad announced ceasing of the print edition of the publication after 58 years of continuous publishing. The company also ceased the publication of its line of long-running periodicals, including weekly news magazine ''

Assayad ''Assayad'' (Arabic: ''Hunter'') was a weekly news magazine published in Lebanon between 1943 and 2018. It was the first pan-Arab magazine in the country. Its headquarters was in Beirut. History and profile ''Assayad'' was launched by Dar Assaya ...

'', weekly arts and entertainment magazine ''Achabaka'', monthly women's magazine ''Fayrouz'', monthly men's magazine ''Al Fares'' and monthly military magazine ''Al Difa' Al Arabi''.

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 The president of Egypt is the executive head of state of Egypt and the de facto appointer of the official head of government under the Egyptian Constitution of 2014. Under the various iterations of the Constitution of Egypt following the Egyp ...

Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-re ...

. The headquarters of the paper was in Beirut. 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. It was published in broadsheet format. The daily launched its website in 1996.

Orientation

''Al Anwar'' claimed that it reinforced the long-term stability and prosperity of Lebanon. In 2013 it was described by ''

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...

Staff and content

Issam Freiha was one of the editors-in-chief of the paper. Palestinian journalist and writer

Ghassan Kanafani Ghassan Kanafani ( ar, غسان كنفاني, 8 April 1936 – 8 July 1972) was a Palestinian author and a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). On 8 July 1972 ...

served in the editorial board of the paper from 1967 to 1969. The daily covered both Lebanese and Arabic affairs. 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 Abdullah Tariki (19 March 1919–7 September 1997) (Arabic: عبدالله الطريقي), also known as Red Sheikh, was a Saudi politician and government official. He was the first Saudi oil minister appointed by King Saud, and co-founder of Or ...

who was living in Beirut after his removal from office. He published an open letter to the

Shah of Iran This is a list of monarchs of Persia (or monarchs of the Iranic peoples, in present-day Iran), which are known by the royal title Shah or Shahanshah. This list starts from the establishment of the Medes around 671 BCE until the deposition of th ...

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi , title = Shahanshah Aryamehr Bozorg Arteshtaran , image = File:Shah_fullsize.jpg , caption = Shah in 1973 , succession = Shah of Iran , reign = 16 September 1941 – 11 February 1979 , coronation = 26 October ...

, in ''Al Anwar'' on 19 May 1969. The paper published many significant interviews, including one with Saudi royal Prince Fahd, later King Fahd, in 1974. Following the

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

of the former Lebanese Prime Minister

Rafiq Hariri Rafic Bahaa El Deen Al Hariri ( ar, رفيق بهاء الدين الحريري; 1 November 1944 – 14 February 2005) was a Lebanese business tycoon and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from ...

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

Circulation and audience

In addition to its native readers in Lebanon, ''Al Anwar'' was read by officials, intellectuals and activists outside Lebanon. It was distributed in other Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and the UAE where it had highest circulation figures during the early 1970s. ''Al Anwar'' sold 35,000 copies at the beginning of the 1970s. In the 1980s the paper was frequently circulated in

East Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

. Its popularity in East Beirut continued until the 2000s. The circulation of the paper was 20,000 copies in 2003, making it the fourth best selling Lebanese newspaper. In a 2006 study carried out by

Ipsos Ipsos Group S.A. () (an acronym of ) is a multinational market research and consulting firm with headquarters in Paris, France. The company was founded in 1975 by Didier Truchot, Chairman of the company, and has been publicly traded on the Pa ...

, it was found that ''Al Anwar'' had lower circulation in capital Beirut than other regions. In Beirut the paper was the sixth among seven dailies, having daily circulation at 10.7%. However, it was the second most circulated daily with 12.6% in the Biqa region after '' Sada Al Balad'' which had 12.7% of the daily circulation. In

Mount Lebanon Mount Lebanon ( ar, جَبَل لُبْنَان, ''jabal lubnān'', ; syr, ܛܘܪ ܠܒ݂ܢܢ, ', , ''ṭūr lewnōn'' french: Mont Liban) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It averages above in elevation, with its peak at . Geography The Mount Le ...

''Al Anwar'' was the fifth daily, having 38.4% of the daily circulation, whereas in

southern Lebanon Southern Lebanon () is the area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. The two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s. The Rashaya and Western Beqaa Districts, the southernmost distric ...

it was the third with 15.2% of the daily circulation. Based on the data provided by the DAS research group the daily reported its average net daily sales as 49.043 copies in 2012. The daily sold 6,003 copies in Europe in 2012. The same year the website of ''Al Anwar'' had 1.1 million hits and 63,010 visitors per month.

Awards

''Al Anwar'' was awarded by different bodies, including the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Prize for Social Reporting and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

's James Wechsler Award for best international reporting.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Anwar 1959 establishments in Lebanon 2018 disestablishments in Lebanon Arabic-language newspapers Daily newspapers published in Lebanon Defunct newspapers published in Lebanon Newspapers established in 1959 Newspapers published in Beirut Publications disestablished in 2018