''As-Safir'' ( ar, السفير, lit=The Ambassador), was a leading Arabic-language daily newspaper in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

. The headquarters of the daily was in Beirut. It was in circulation from March 1974 until December 2016. The last issue of the paper was published on 31 December 2016. The online version was also closed on the same date.

History and profile

''As-Safir'' was first published by Talal Salman on 26 March 1974 as an Arabic political daily. Talal Salman also served as

chief editor An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of the paper. One of the early contributors was Palestinian cartoonist Naji Al Ali. In 2005, the daily's chief editor was

Joseph Samaha Joseph Samaha (1949–2007) (Arabic: جوزيف نصري سماحة) was a Lebanese journalist and leftwing intellectual. He was editor-in-chief of the Lebanese newspaper ''As-Safir'' and a cofounder of the newspaper '' Al Akhbar''. Life Samaha wa ...

. Another contributor was

Samir Frangieh Samir Frangieh (4 December 1945 – 11 April 2017) was a Lebanese politician and a leftist intellectual. He was a member of the Lebanese Parliament. He was from the Frangieh family, one of the well-known political families of Lebanon. Early li ...

. The publisher of the daily which was published in broadsheet format was Dar Al Safir. On 18 July 2011, the paper, together with '' Al Akhbar'', another daily published in Lebanon, was banned in Syria. ''As-Safir'' had a weekly page on the environmental issues.

Political approach

''As-Safir'' stated its mission as to be "the newspaper of Lebanon in the Arab world and the newspaper of the Arab world in Lebanon." This remained the slogan printed on the paper's masthead. It also adopted the slogan "The voice of voiceless". The paper provided an independent voice for the left-wing, Pan-Arab tendency which was increasingly active in Lebanese intellectual and political life in the years after the Arab defeat in the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...

. It also focused on issues pertaining to the Muslim world, advocated Arab nationalism, was close to

Hezbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...

and had a pro-Syrian stance. Another Lebanese daily, ''

An-Nahar ''An-Nahar'' ( ar, النهار, lit=The Day or The Morning) is a leading Arabic-language daily newspaper published in Lebanon. In the 1980s, ''An-Nahar'' was described by the ''New York Times'' and ''Time Magazine'' as the newspaper of record f ...

'', was cited as the biggest rival of ''As-Safir''. In the mid-1990s, the paper was described as a left-of-center paper, whereas ''An-Nahar'' as a right-of-center paper. During the same period, ''As-Safir'' was also described by Robert Fisk as a Syrian-backed newspaper. In the 2000s these papers were supporters of two opposite poles in Lebanon, in that ''An-Nahar'' supported March 14 alliance, whereas ''As-Safir'' supported March 8 alliance.

Circulation and websites

''As-Safir'' had the second highest circulation in Lebanon in the 1990s after ''An-Nahar''. Its circulation was 45,000 copies in 2003, making it the second best selling paper in Lebanon. The paper sold more than 50,000 copies in 2010. In 2012, the Lebanese Ministry of Information reported that the daily had a circulation of 50,000 copies. The circulation of the paper was less than 10,000 copies in 2016 when it folded. In addition to its Arabic website, the paper had also an English website. The paper's online version was the 16th most visited website for 2010 in the MENA region.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Safir 1974 establishments in Lebanon 2016 disestablishments in Lebanon Arab nationalism in Lebanon Arabic-language newspapers Defunct newspapers published in Lebanon Newspapers published in Beirut Pan-Arabist media Publications established in 1974 Publications disestablished in 2016 Daily newspapers published in Lebanon

History and profile

Political approach

Circulation and websites

See also

References

External links