''Ammon '' (in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

عمون) also known as ''Ammon News'' is a private news agency and alternative news body based in

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

, Jordan. It is the first

online newspaper An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the electronic publishing, online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical literature, periodical. Goin ...

in the country. The agency has both Arabic and English language websites. The name of the agency, ''Ammon'', refers to ancient name of Amman, capital city of Jordan.

History and profile

''Ammon News'' was launched in 2006 by Sameer Al Hayari and Bassel Elkour, being the first online newspaper of Jordan. Alhyari is the editor-in-chief of the news portal. Dr.Ahmad alhyari is the managing editor of ''Ammon News''. He also contributes to the website in parliamentary affairs. The agency which is run from a cafe in Amman describes itself as the voice to the "silent majority". It provides news which is not published in print media through its both Arabic and English news portals. According to Forbes, Ammon News is the first and most visited website in the Arab world and one of the top 5 media in the Middle East. Also, based on the 2010

Alexa Alexa may refer to: Technology *Amazon Alexa, a virtual assistant developed by Amazon * Alexa Internet, a defunct website ranking and traffic analysis service * Alexa Fluor, a family of fluorescent dyes * Arri Alexa, a digital motion picture ca ...

data ''Ammon News'' had a readership of 38%, making it the most visited website in Jordan. As of 2011 it was the most popular website in the country with 250,000 daily visitors according to Alexa. It was the fifth most visited website in the

Arab world The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

in 2012. In a market study carried out by

Ipsos Ipsos Group S.A. (; derived from the Latin expression, ) 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 publ ...

in March 2012 it was established that ''Ammon News'' was among the top 3 most visited websites in the Country

Attacks and blocks

In February 2011, the website of ''Ammon News'' was disabled following the publication of a statement by 36 leading Jordanian tribesmen who called for democratic and economic reforms in Jordan. In addition, unknown people also attacked the owners of the news portal on the same date.

Randa Habib Randa Habib is a French journalist of Lebanese origin, who as director of the Amman, Jordan, bureau of Agence France-Presse (AFP), one of the three global news agencies, since 1987, has spent 25 years covering war, politics and economic developme ...

, a veteran journalist, published articles in a column in English and Arabic portals of the ''Ammon News'' until June 2011 when the Jordanian government implemented pressure related to the statement mentioned above. Regarding the hacking Bassel Elkour argued that it had been perpetrated by Jordan Intelligence. The Jordanian authorities denied his claim. The website was blocked, temporarily, by the Jordanian government in June 2013 when it refused to comply the new press law in order to protest it.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ammon News 2006 establishments in Jordan Arabic-language websites English-language websites Jordanian news websites Mass media in Amman Newspapers established in 2006