TheCultofAbeLincoln
29th December 2010, 14:40
BEIRUT, Lebanon Ibrahim al-Amine, the hawk-eyed editorial chairman of Al Akhbar, describes his newspapers founding ambitions this way: We wanted the U.S. ambassador to wake up in the morning, read it and get upset.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/12/29/world/Beirut-2/Beirut-2-articleInline.jpg (javascript:pop_me_up2('http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2010/12/29/Beirut-2.html','Beirut_2_html','width=720,height=563,scro llbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes'))
Bryan Denton for The New York Times
Ernest Khoury, an editor of Al Akhbar, working beneath a portrait of Karl Marx. Al Akhbars chief owner is an investment banker based in London.
He succeeded. Earlier this month Al Akhbar became the only Arab newspaper to obtain its own substantial batch of WikiLeaks (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/w/wikileaks/index.html?inline=nyt-org) cables and gleefully cataloged various embarrassments to the regions kings, princes and politicians. Soon afterward, the papers popular Web site came under a cyberattack (http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=122387#axzz19MkjnCmu) that became a story in its own right, and provided more free publicity.
It was the latest coup for a five-year-old paper that has become the most dynamic and daring in Lebanon (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/lebanon/index.html?inline=nyt-geo), and perhaps anywhere in the Arab world. In a region where the news media are still full of obsequious propaganda, Al Akhbar is now required reading, even for those who abhor its politics.
They are a remarkable blend: the paper champions gay rights, feminism and other leftist causes, even as it wholeheartedly supports Hezbollah (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/h/hezbollah/index.html?inline=nyt-org), the Iranian-backed Shiite movement. Al Akhbars access to Hezbollah allows it to scoop other papers on Lebanons biggest continuing story, but it also publishes muckraking exposs on the abuse of domestic workers, prison overcrowding and other delicate subjects. Add splashy full-page color photos and witty tabloid-style headlines, and you have an alluring product.
Our project is basically anti-imperialism, said Khaled Saghieh, Al Akhbars mild and cerebral managing editor, who abandoned a Ph.D. in political science at the University of Massachusetts (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/university_of_massachusetts/index.html?inline=nyt-org), Amherst, to help start the paper. That insurrectionary theme, he said, links the papers resistance to neoliberal economic policies and its support for Hezbollahs fight against Israel. There are plenty of disagreements with Hezbollah, whose members regularly call to complain about articles though not in any official capacity. But the Shiite groups leaders appear to recognize the importance of maintaining alliances across Lebanons complex sectarian and political landscape.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/29/world/middleeast/29beirut.html?ref=middleeast
Interesting article when thinking about the press and how it is often bent to serve another's interest.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/12/29/world/Beirut-2/Beirut-2-articleInline.jpg (javascript:pop_me_up2('http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2010/12/29/Beirut-2.html','Beirut_2_html','width=720,height=563,scro llbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes'))
Bryan Denton for The New York Times
Ernest Khoury, an editor of Al Akhbar, working beneath a portrait of Karl Marx. Al Akhbars chief owner is an investment banker based in London.
He succeeded. Earlier this month Al Akhbar became the only Arab newspaper to obtain its own substantial batch of WikiLeaks (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/w/wikileaks/index.html?inline=nyt-org) cables and gleefully cataloged various embarrassments to the regions kings, princes and politicians. Soon afterward, the papers popular Web site came under a cyberattack (http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=122387#axzz19MkjnCmu) that became a story in its own right, and provided more free publicity.
It was the latest coup for a five-year-old paper that has become the most dynamic and daring in Lebanon (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/lebanon/index.html?inline=nyt-geo), and perhaps anywhere in the Arab world. In a region where the news media are still full of obsequious propaganda, Al Akhbar is now required reading, even for those who abhor its politics.
They are a remarkable blend: the paper champions gay rights, feminism and other leftist causes, even as it wholeheartedly supports Hezbollah (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/h/hezbollah/index.html?inline=nyt-org), the Iranian-backed Shiite movement. Al Akhbars access to Hezbollah allows it to scoop other papers on Lebanons biggest continuing story, but it also publishes muckraking exposs on the abuse of domestic workers, prison overcrowding and other delicate subjects. Add splashy full-page color photos and witty tabloid-style headlines, and you have an alluring product.
Our project is basically anti-imperialism, said Khaled Saghieh, Al Akhbars mild and cerebral managing editor, who abandoned a Ph.D. in political science at the University of Massachusetts (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/university_of_massachusetts/index.html?inline=nyt-org), Amherst, to help start the paper. That insurrectionary theme, he said, links the papers resistance to neoliberal economic policies and its support for Hezbollahs fight against Israel. There are plenty of disagreements with Hezbollah, whose members regularly call to complain about articles though not in any official capacity. But the Shiite groups leaders appear to recognize the importance of maintaining alliances across Lebanons complex sectarian and political landscape.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/29/world/middleeast/29beirut.html?ref=middleeast
Interesting article when thinking about the press and how it is often bent to serve another's interest.