Lebanon’s As-Safir To Wind Down Operations

Article was updated on March 30, 2016.
One of the most prominent Arabic language newspapers in Lebanon, As-Safir, will end its print and online operations by the end of March due to financial difficulties. Talal Salman, Founder and Editor, As Safir will be hosting a press conference on March 30 to give further details about his decision. The paper was first published on March 26, 1974 and hence will complete 42 years this month. The newspaper informed its 170 employees that the final issue of the paper will be on March 31, 2016.

As reported by Gulf News, the 2013 handbook that examined mass media outlets in the Middle East, As Safir had a circulation of 45,000 copies in 2003, and may have reached to 50,000 copies in 2012 according to Ministry of Information, making it first in the region during the last few years.

Editors of other prominent newspapers such as An-Nahar have also given memos to their staff suggesting the dying fate of the print era in Lebanon.

The Lebanese media and journalism is facing a difficult time due to the political instability in the region, financial debt and their inability to stay well-informed about the on-going revolutions.

Note From Editor: As-Safir announced that they would cease operations at the end of March due to financial difficulties on March 24, 2016 but less than a week after the announcement, Talal Salman, Founder and Editor, As- Safir has informed its employees that the newspaper would continue, but he is still skeptical about the paper’s future and the industry in general. However Mr Salman has ensured that there will not be any staff cuts as of now, saying: “Either we all stay or we all leave. There isn’t anyone who was fired from As-Safir, either today or yesterday.”

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