Established in 1952, one of the few leading English-speaking newspapers in Lebanon The Daily Star has just made a sudden announcement of closing doors overnight, sparking speculations over the real reason for this surprising decision.
The Daily Star sent an email message to its employees on Monday telling them it was the last day of operation for the publication.
All staff at Lebanon’s The Daily Star newspaper @DailyStarLeb have been laid off via email from management
— Timour Azhari (@timourazhari) November 1, 2021
Many are owed months of wages & now compensation
TDS was founded in 1950s & so many journalists started out there (including me)
Heavy news that was a long time coming.
This comes weeks after the newspaper's online website posted a message to readers apologizing for having to suspend updating the website, citing "circumstances beyond our control."
Amid this decision that shocked the employees working for the 70-years old Daily Star, many people wondered about the fate of the Lebanese journalists who have already been facing financial struggles due to the country's acute economic crisis. Twitter users reported that many of the Daily Star employees have not been paid for a few months.
In February 2020, The Daily Star stopped producing its print publication due to financial strains but kept its website going for several more months.
Online people have linked the latest decision of final closure to the fact that the newspaper is owned by the Hariri family with strong ties to Saudi Arabia and the ongoing crisis between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.
It's official: after stopping print publication last year and halting updates to its website last month in what was nominally a temporary suspension, The Daily Star, Lebanon's storied English language newspaper, has shut down.https://t.co/UMroOn66q2 via @LOrientToday
— Abby Sewell (@sewella) November 1, 2021
Last week, Saudi Arabia and several other GCC states expelled the Lebanese ambassador and called on their citizens to leave Lebanon as soon as possible, following remarks made by the Lebanese minister of information George Kurdahi over the Yemen war.
Saudi officials who continue to demand an official Lebanese apology have considered Kurdahi's to be offensive to the kingdom.
Some social media users have expressed their worries that the Daily Star's final closure is only one result of the Saudi-Lebanese crisis, suggesting that Saudi might be exerting extra financial pressure on the Hariri family to push for a Lebanese apology.
