Fodil Mezali () (born in

Thénia Thénia (), sometimes written as Thenia, with around 40,000 inhabitants, is the chief town in the ''daïra'' of the same name, in the ''wilaya'' of Boumerdès, in northern Algeria. Historically, the name is a contraction of "Theniet Beni Aicha" (� ...

on 23 April 1959) is an Algerian journalist, editor-in-chief and

managing editor A managing editor (ME) is a senior member of a publication's management team. Typically, the managing editor reports directly to the editor-in-chief and oversees all aspects of the publication. United States In the United States, a managing edi ...

Early life

Mezali was born in 1959 in the town of

in the lower Kabylia region of Algeria, east of the

Khachna Massif The Khachna Range (, ''Jibal Khashna''; Berber ''Adrar n Kheshna'') is a mountain range of the Tell Atlas, part of the Atlas Mountain System. It is located in Kabylie, Algeria. Geography The ''Khachna'' is a massif made up of two differentiate ...

and south-east of the town of

Boumerdès Boumerdès (; ; formerly ''Rocher Noir'') is the capital city of Boumerdès Province, Algeria. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea. It had a population of 15,000 in 1987 and 28,500 in 1998. Boumerdès is a seaside city located in the north o ...

. After primary and intermediate studies in Thénia, Mezali continued his secondary education at a high school in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

, where he obtained his baccalaureate in 1979, and then pursued studies in journalism at the

University of Algiers The University of Algiers 1 (), commonly called Benyoucef Benkhedda, is a public research university based in Algiers, Algeria. Founded in 1909 from the amalgamation of different French colonial educational institutions, it has become the oldes ...

''Alger républicain''

Mezali began his professional career as a journalist in the '' Alger républicain'' newspaper in July 1989. Among his colleagues were

Saïd Mekbel Said Mekbel (March 25, 1940 at Béjaïa, Bejaia – December 3, 1994 at Algiers) was an Algerian journalist and satirist. Personal Born on March 25, 1940, at Béjaïa, Bejaia in a modest family. His father was a seaman. He was the eldest of ...

and

Mohamed Benchicou Mohammed Boualem Benchicou (; born 1952 in Miliana, Aïn Defla Province) was the director and publisher of the Algerian newspaper '' Le Matin ()'', closed in August 2006. Career In 1989, he was one of the founders of the movement of Algerian ...

. The newspaper ceased publication in December 1994.

''Le Matin''

Mezali founded the newspaper '' Le Matin'' in 1991 as the editor-in-chief with Saïd Mekbal and Mohamed Benchicou, while remaining a contributor of columns to the Algiers Republican. Mezali left this daily when he was suspended on 26 July 2004 for non-payment of debts, and after its director, Mohamed Benchicou was imprisoned on 14 June 2004 for having written a pamphlet book on President

Abdelaziz Bouteflika Abdelaziz Bouteflika (; ; 2 March 1937 – 17 September 2021) was an Algerian politician and diplomat who served as the seventh president of Algeria from 1999 to his resignation in 2019. Before his stint as an Algerian politician, Bouteflika s ...

which he titled "Bouteflika, an Algerian Sham" ().

''Le Quotidien d'Algérie''

After the bankruptcy and closure of the newspaper ''Le Matin'', Mezali contributed articles to several Algerian press titles from 2005 until 2012, such as ''Le Quotidien d'Algérie''.

''La Cité''

Mezali waited seven years after the newspaper ''Le Matins dissolution before returning to the Algerian journalistic scene by publishing, as a

, a daily newspaper entitled'' La Cité'', which published its first issue on 21 April 2013. It chose as its maxim on the editorial line, "The newspaper of a camp and not of a clan" ().

''Tighremt''

Mezali launched another publication with an experimental edition of the Kabyle-language newspaper ''Tighremt'' on 22 February 2020. Having directed the French-language daily ''La Cité'' since 2012, he wanted to launch his

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

-speaking corollary ''Tighremt'', whose first number was published on 29 February 2020. Mezali handpicked for proven language skills in ''Tighremts editorial team, made up primarily of

Tamazight The Berber languages, also known as the Amazigh languages or Tamazight, are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They comprise a group of closely related but mostly mutually unintelligible languages spoken by Berber communities, who ar ...

teachers. He commissioned a pair of seasoned specialists in the field, Djamel Ikhloufi and Yacine Zidane, to lead this press title. This Berber-speaking title comes from a bi-weekly and then weekly notebook inserted in the daily ''La Cité'' since 2015 for 550 issues.

Bibliography

* * *

External links

* *
Le Matin newspaper website

References

Algerian newspaper journalists 1959 births Living people People from Thénia Kabyle people University of Algiers alumni Algerian writers in French 20th-century Algerian male writers 21st-century Algerian male writers 21st-century Algerian writers Algerian columnists Managing editors Print editors Algerian newspaper editors {{Algeria-writer-stub