One of Lebanon’s decades-old daily newspapers announced that effective Monday, it would stop being published as a result of financial difficulties.
In a front-page announcement Friday, Al-Anwar newspaper said that because of “a decision that everyone knows the reason for,” its publisher, Dar Assayad, has decided to stop publishing it. The move will be effective as of Monday; the paper was founded in 1959.
The announcement added that Dar Assayad also decided to halt the publication of all its magazines including Fayrouz, Achabaka and Assayad in the latest blow to Lebanon’s media sector.
“We believe that all of those who follow the situation of free independent newspapers know that the main reason for [this decision] is related to financial losses,” it read. It also expressed hope that the publishers will revive the newspaper when circumstances allow.
Local NGO Lebanon Press Club, which offers subscriptions to journalists and people working in media fields, called the news “unfortunate,” expressed solidarity with the outlet and called on the government to support print journalism in times of crisis. “The press club, which takes pride in the long-standing journalistic journey of this publication, founded 76 years ago, reiterates its call to those concerned in government to find a solution to the print crises,” a statement from the club said. “The press club regrets the deterioration of press institutions one after the other over economic difficulties.”
Dar Assayad’s decision to shut down Al-Anwar follows a similar decision in 2016 by Lebanese newspaper As-Safir to close its doors after more than 40 years in print as a result of financial difficulties.
And in late June, pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat closed its offices in Lebanon, where it was founded, as part of move to take its headquarters to Dubai for financial reasons and close its foreign bureaus. Lebanese journalist Kamel Mroue, who was assassinated in the 1960s, founded the newspaper in 1946.
Al-Hayat shuttered its operations in Lebanon for the first time in 1976. It reopened in London in 1988 and was bought two years later by Saudi Arabian Prince Khaled bin Sultan.
In addition to establishing Al-Hayat, Mroue was the publisher of The Daily Star, founded in 1952.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
