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''Al-Masdar News'' (sometimes abbreviated ''AMN'') ( ar, المصدر نيوز) is an
online newspaper An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical. Going online created more opportunities for newspa ...
founded by Leith Abou Fadel. Al-Masdar is Arabic for "the source". ''Al-Masdar''s coverage focuses largely on conflict zones in the Middle East: Syria, Yemen, and Iraq. ''Al-Masdar'' has been described as being favorable to President
Bashar al-Assad Bashar Hafez al-Assad, ', Levantine pronunciation: ; (, born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian politician who is the 19th president of Syria, since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the ...
during its coverage of the Syrian civil war.


Background

''Al-Masdar News'' (AMN) was launched in August 2014 as a media service that provides frontline news and analysis from the Middle East.


Position

The website was described by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
and ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
'' as having a pro-Syrian government viewpoint, while ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' describes it as "sympathetic to the Syrian regime". ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' has described it as a "pro-government website". Leonid Bertshidsky writing in
Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Televi ...
, also calls ''Al-Masdar'' "somewhat pro-Assad." ''
The National Interest ''The National Interest'' (''TNI'') is an American bimonthly international relations magazine edited by American journalist Jacob Heilbrunn and published by the Center for the National Interest, a public policy think tank based in Washington, D ...
'' describes it as "pro-Assad". ''
The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper w ...
'' describes it as "generally supportive of the Syrian regime". The ''
New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...
'' calls it a "regime-supporting outlet".


Notable reports, fake news and disinformation

In 2015, ''The New York Times'' accused Fadel of spreading unfounded misinformation about a victim of the Petra László incident: after a right-wing Hungarian journalist assaulted a Syrian refugee, Fadel falsely reported that the refugee was “a former member of
Jabhat Al-Nusra Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra ( ar, جبهة النصرة لأهل الشام, Jabhat an-Nuṣrah li-Ahl ish-Sham lit. ''Front of the Supporters of the People of Syria/the Levant''), known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham ( ar, جبهة فتح ال ...
(
Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
)” adding “looks like Europe will be receiving more Islamist scumbags.” Although Fadel withdrew his allegation, it was picked up by a right-wing commentator
Ezra Levant Ezra Isaac Levant (born February 20, 1972) is a Canadian conservative media personality, political activist, writer, broadcaster, and former lawyer. Levant is the founder and former publisher of the conservative magazine, The'' Western Standard''. ...
, among others. Following the April 2017
Khan Shaykhun chemical attack The Khan Shaykhun chemical attack took place on 4 April 2017 on the town of Khan Shaykhun in the Idlib Governorate of Syria. The town was reported to have been struck by an airstrike by government forces followed by massive civilian chemical ...
in the
Idlib Governorate Idlib Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة ادلب / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Idlib'') is one of the 14 governorates of Syria. It is situated in northwestern Syria, bordering Turkey's Hatay province to the north, Aleppo Governorate to the east, Hama ...
, ''al-Masdar News'' published an opinion article by deputy editor Paul Antonopoulos entitled "Jumping to conclusions; something is not adding up in Idlib chemical weapons attack". A report by the
Atlantic Council The Atlantic Council is an American think tank in the field of international affairs, favoring Atlanticism, founded in 1961. It manages sixteen regional centers and functional programs related to international security and global economic prosp ...
's
Digital Forensic Research Lab Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Technology and computing Hardware *Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals **Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...
(DFRLab) published three days later described a "
digital forensics Digital forensics (sometimes known as digital forensic science) is a branch of forensic science encompassing the recovery, investigation, examination and analysis of material found in digital devices, often in relation to mobile devices and co ...
" trail which showed how this ''Al-Masdar'' opinion article was used as a source by conspiracy, pro-Russian and far-right websites, in particular
InfoWars ''InfoWars'' is an American far-right conspiracy theory and fake news website owned by Alex Jones. It was founded in 1999, and operates under Free Speech Systems LLC. Talk shows and other content for the site are created primarily in studi ...
, which recycled Antonopoulos' article in a piece by Mimi al Laham. It described ''Al-Masdar News'' as "an unofficial government outlet" and said that it had "repeatedly attacked regime critics and witnesses to regime atrocities, notably the White Helmets." ''
Business Insider ''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German publ ...
'' showed the conclusions in the ''AMN'' article differing markedly from those of other analysts, specifically Fred Hof (director of the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East), US defense officials, President Donald Trump and Dr. Monzer Khalil (rebel-held Idlib Province's health director). ''Business Insider'' reporter
Natasha Bertrand Natasha Bertrand (; born May 12, 1992) is an American journalist who is a White House reporter for CNN covering national security. Early life and career Bertrand attended Vassar College and the London School of Economics, where she double-m ...
described Leith Abou Fadel, the editor of ''Al-Masdar'', as someone who had pushed a conspiracy theory in the past, and described him as an "Assad loyalist". After Antonopoulos was shown to be active on the
neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...
site Stormfront, he was forced to resign from ''Al-Masdar'' on 28 April 2017. ''Al-Masdar'' issued a statement on behalf of its board of directors, saying they found his behaviour "wholly unacceptable" and strongly condemned it, while also apologizing to its readers and all those offended by his actions. A 2018 report by the
Alliance for Securing Democracy The Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD) is a non-partisan transatlantic national security advocacy group formed in July 2017 with the stated aim of countering efforts by Russia to undermine democratic institutions in the United States and Europe. ...
, based on analysis of its "Hamilton 68" database of Russian disinformation Twitter accounts, showed that ''Al-Masdar'' is a main source of Syria-related propaganda for Russian accounts aimed at US audiences.


References

{{reflist Arab news agencies Internet properties established in 2014 Arabic-language websites