''Al-Balad'' ( ar, البلد, lit=The Country) officially ''Sada Al-Balad'' ( ar, صدى البلد, lit=The Echo of the Country) was an Arabic-language daily newspaper in Lebanon. It was headquartered in

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 ...

and was published as a tabloid commercial paper.

History

''Al Balad'' was first published on 15 December 2003, offering a myriad of prizes to lure subscribers "in exchange for largely insipid centrist news and popular society pages." The first

editor-in-chief 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 ...

was Béchara Charbel, a former graphic designer. The first CEO was

Bachar Kiwan Muhammad Bashar Kiwan (; born November 30, 1966), known as ''Bachar Kiwan'', is a Syrian-French convicted felon, fraudster and international fugitive. He is sought by the authorities in the Comoros Islands for criminal convictions relating to mon ...

, one of the owners of the newspaper. The paper had a liberal-centrist stance. In 2004, the newspaper started charging a subscription fee. Soon after, a series of crises (

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559 United Nations Security Council resolution 1559, adopted on 2 September 2004, after recalling resolutions 425 (1978), 426 (1978), 520 (1982) and 1553 (2004) on the situation in Lebanon, the Council supported free and fair presidential election ...

and the

assassination of Rafic Hariri On 14 February 2005, former Prime Minister of Lebanon Rafic Hariri was killed along with 21 others in an explosion in Beirut, Lebanon. Explosives equivalent to around 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of TNT were detonated as his motorcade d ...

) left Lebanese citizens thirsting for political and security-related news which ''Al Balad'' hadn't provided, which led to the newspaper dismissing its staff and shutting down in 2005.

Other editions

''Al Balad'' published a French edition in 2008 which lasted for three years before being shut down for financial reasons. ''Al Balad'' also published a French edition in the Comoros through

United Group (UG) United Group for Publishing Advertising and Marketing (UG) ( ar, المجموعة المتحدة للنشر والدعاية والتسويق) also known as ''United Group (Syria)'' or ''United Group (UG)'', is the largest private sector media gr ...

affiliate Comoro Gulf Holding (CGH). In 2008, ''Al Balad'' was launched in Kuwait and was subsequently shut down.

Closure

The newspaper reopened in 2010 but shut down again by 2018 after not paying its staff. 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 Majd Bahjat Suleiman ( ar, مجد بهجت سليمان, born 28 October 1974), also known as ''Majd Suleiman'' or ''Majid Suleiman'', is a Dubai-based Syrian businessman and son of the former Syrian ambassador to Jordan and intelligence chief Ba ...

and

Ownership

''Al Balad'' is owned by United Group for Publishing and Advertising (through its affiliate Al Waseet International), the Syrian media conglomerate owned by the Syrian businessmen

and

, seen as the media arm of the Assad regime in various Arab countries. The publisher of the daily was Al Wataniya Publishing House.

Brand

''Al Balad's'' logo, the Arabic letter ب set in white across a red backdrop is identical to the logo of the

's Syrian newspaper ''

Baladna ''Baladna'' ( ar, بلدنا, lit=Our Country) is a privately owned, government-aligned Arabic daily newspaper published in Syria. The paper has also an English edition which was launched in December 2009 but later shut down. History and profil ...

''.

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. In the same study it was also found that the paper was the second most popular paper in Lebanon after ''

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 fo ...

''. The

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 P ...

study in 2006 revealed that ''Al-Balad'' had the largest rate of subscribers with 23.8% whereas ''An Nahar'' had only 2.6%. The paper was also found to have highest circulation in Lebanon in 2006. A 2009 survey by Ipsos Stat also established that the daily was among the five most popular newspapers in Beirut. The paper's online version was the 42nd most visited website for 2010 in the

MENA region MENA, an acronym in the English language, refers to a grouping of countries situated in and around the Middle East and North Africa. It is also known as WANA, SWANA, or NAWA, which alternatively refers to the Middle East as Western Asia (or a ...

References

External links

''Al-Balad'' Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balad 2003 establishments in Lebanon Arabic-language newspapers Newspapers published in Beirut Publications established in 2003 Daily newspapers published in Lebanon French-language newspapers published in Lebanon 2018 disestablishments in Lebanon Publications disestablished in 2018 Defunct newspapers published in Lebanon