'' ARA News'' ( ar, آرانيوز, ʾĀrā Niyūz) was an online news service focused on the consequences of war in
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
and
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
.
Although described as a
Kurdish news agency by its director, the site started as an Arabic-only news service and , still published only in the Arabic and English languages,
and ceased publishing around August 2017.
''ARA News'' was referenced hundreds of times by other news vendors, and thousands of times in social media.
''ARA News'' was supported by
Free Press Unlimited, a media development organisation based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Ownership, identity and reliability
''ARA News'' is a member of the Ethical Charter for Syrian Media.
The ownership of the ''ARA News'' is unpublished. The founder and chief editor is Adib Abdulmajid,
a Syrian Kurd who fled Syria after taking part in pro-democracy activities, and sought asylum in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
.
Reporters and editors of ''ARA News'' are named. Most of the staff are Kurdish, some are Arabs.
''ARA News'' was supported by
Free Press Limited, whose mission statement is that "People deserve to know." Free Press Unlimited claims to work to ensure that impartial news and information are and remain available to people across the globe, particularly in countries where there is little to no press freedom. Free Press Unlimited has media projects in approximately 40 countries around the world.
Name
''ARA'' is an abbreviation of the
Kurdish ''Ajansa Rojnamevaniya Azad'', meaning "Independent Press Agency".
The Arabic name ( ar, آرانيوز) is a simple transliteration of ''ARA News''.
History
''ARA News'' was founded by Adib Abdulmajid in 2013, the website's domain name having been registered in April 2013,
and the first news reports were published in June 2013.
Abdulmajid, a graduate of
Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
, motto =
, image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg
, image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg
, seal_type = Seal
, map_caption =
, ...
and
Tilburg
Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-larg ...
universities, believed that in Syria and its region "freedom of expression has been suppressed for decades", and he created ''ARA News'' as "a step forward towards free media" in the region.
With the aim of developing professional journalism in Syria, in 2014 Free Press Unlimited gave training to editors, news managers and reporters from ''ARA News''.
In 2015 ''ARA News'' became one of the first 20 signatories of the Ethical Charter for Syrian Media, "an alliance of significant independent Syrian media organisations committed to the highest standards of journalism and unimpeded freedom of speech" established under
Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency
The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency ( sv, Styrelsen för internationellt utvecklingssamarbete, ) is a government agency of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Sida is responsible for organization of the bulk of Swed ...
sponsorship.
The last online publication of ''ARA News'' was issued online in late August 2017.
References
External links
ARA News (English){{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171117161332/http://aranews.net/ , date=2017-11-17
ARA News (Arabic)ARA News first reports
Arab news agencies
Internet properties established in 2013
Arabic-language websites
News agencies based in the Netherlands