''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 Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

. 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 of the paper. One of the early contributors was Palestinian cartoonist Naji Al Ali. In 2005, the daily's chief editor was Joseph Samaha. 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 Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on t ...

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 states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Ju ...

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

'', 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 Robert Fisk (12 July 194630 October 2020) was a writer and journalist who held British and Irish citizenship. He was critical of United States foreign policy in the Middle East, and the Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians. His stan ...

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 The March 14 Alliance ( ar, تحالف 14 آذار, taḥāluf 14 adhār}), named after the date of the Cedar Revolution, is a coalition of political parties and independents in Lebanon formed in 2005 that are united by their anti-Syrian stance ...

, whereas ''As-Safir'' supported

March 8 alliance The March 8 Alliance ( ar, تحالف 8 آذار, taḥāluf 8 adhār}) is a coalition of political parties and independents in Lebanon formed in 2005 that are united by their pro-Syrian stance and their opposition to the March 14 Alliance. I ...

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 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

* * {{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