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Al-Ahram

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This article is about the newspaper. For other uses, seeAl-Ahram (disambiguation).

Al-Ahram(Arabic:الأهرام;lit. 'The Pyramids'), founded on 5 August 1876, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second oldest afterAl-Waqa'i' al-Misriyya(The Egyptian Events,founded 1828).[2]It is majority owned by theEgyptian government,and is considered anewspaper of recordfor Egypt.[3]

Al-Ahram
الأهرام
TypicalAl-Ahramfront page
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
Owner(s)Egyptian Government
Founder(s)Beshara Takla
Saleem Takla
PublisherAl-Ahram Publishing House
EditorMohamed Abdelhady Allam
Founded5 August 1876;148 years ago(1876-08-05)
Political alignmentUncertain (2011–present)
National Democratic Party(1978–2011)
LanguageArabic,English
HeadquartersBoulaq,Cairo,Egypt
CountryEgypt
Circulation1,000,000 daily
1,200,000 Fridays[1]
WebsiteArabic:gate.ahram.org.eg
English:english.ahram.org.eg
Français:hebdo.ahram.org.eg

Given the manyvarieties of Arabiclanguage,Al-Ahramis widely considered an influential source of writing style in Arabic. In 1950, theMiddle East InstitutedescribedAl-Ahramas being to the Arabic-reading public within its area of distribution, "WhatThe Timesis to Englishmen andThe New York Timesto Americans ";[4]however, it has often been accused of heavy influence andcensorshipby the Egyptian government.

In addition to the main edition published in Egypt, the paper publishes two other Arabic-language editions, one geared to theArab worldand the other aimed at an international audience, as well as editions inEnglishandFrench.

History

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Al-Ahramwas founded inAlexandriain 1876[5]by twoOttoman[6]MelkiteChristian brothers,Beshara Takla[ar]andSaleem Takla.[7][8]It began as a weekly newspaper published every Saturday. Its first issue appeared on 5 August 1876.[6][9]The paper was relaunched as a daily newspaper in January 1881.[6]

Its headquarters was inAlexandriauntil November 1899 when it was moved toCairo.[6]Initially the Cairo and Alexandria editions remained separate but later there became only one out of the new headquarters.[10]The newspaper was distributed in Egypt and theLevant.The religious innovatorsMuhammad AbduhandJamal al-Din al-Afghaniwere early writers of the newspaper. Upon the death of Beshara Takla, Daud Barakat, a Lebanese journalist, was named editor of the daily in 1901.[11]In the early 1920sMuhib Al Din Al Khatib,a Syrian journalist, served as the editor of the paper.[12]

Under Heikal

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PresidentGamal Abdel Nassermade his friendMohamed Hassanein Heikaleditor-in-chief ofal-Ahramin 1957, and the paper gained semi-official status.[13]On 24 May 1960, it was nationalized when Nasser passed a law eliminating the ownership of private newspapers.[9][14][13]Under Nasser,al-Ahrambecame an internationally respected paper. It moved to a new headquarters inBulaqin the 1960s.[13]

Heikal was known for high standard of production quality and contactedLinotypein 1965 seeking to acquire state-of-the-art Elektron linecastes.[15]

The circulation of the paper was between 45,000 and 50,000 copies in 1937 whereas it was 90,000 copies in 1947.[16]In 1976 the paper had a circulation of 520,000 copies, making it the second most read daily in Egypt afterAl Akhbar.[16]Al Ahram's circulation in 2000 was 1.2 million copies.[17]

Profile and editions

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Al-Ahramdaily is the flagship of what is now the Al-Ahram publishing house, the largest in Egypt.[18]Al-Ahram's headquarters is inBoulaq,Cairo. Its content was controlled[citation needed]by theEgyptian Ministry of Information.

The pan-Arab Arabic-language edition of the paper, calledAl Ahram Al Arabiya,is destined for readers in the Arab World and the Egyptian expatriates in Arab countries. It is published daily in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE and distributed in Egypt andArab states of the Persian Gulf.Arabic weekly,Al Ahram Al Arabi,which was launched in 1997 is another publication of the publishing house.[19]

An international Arabic-language edition calledAl Ahram al Duwalihas been published daily in London since 1984. It is printed in both London and Paris and is distributed throughout Europe, USA, Canada and Egypt.

Two foreign-language weekly versions are also produced: the EnglishAl-Ahram Weekly(founded in 1991) and the FrenchAl-Ahram Hebdo.

Al-Ahramproduces a continually updated news website in the English language at english.ahram.org.e.g.,[20]calledAhram Online.It also has an Arabic news website which was the 20th mostly visited website for 2010 in theMENA region.[21]It was named as the most popular news portal inthe Arab worldin the period from 31 August 2011 to 31 August 2012 byForbesMiddle East.[22][23]

Ownership and government influence

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Al-Ahramis owned by the Al-Ahram Foundation which is managed by the Egyptian government's "Supreme Council of Press".Al-Ahramis one of the largest circulating newspapers in the world.[24]Long-term editor of the dailyMohammad Hassanein Haykalwas the confidant of Nasser and also, the semi-official voice of the Egyptian government when he was in office.[7][25]

The Egyptian government owns a controlling share of the stocks of the paper and appoints the editors. As appointees of the state, little censorship is exercised over them; it is understood that they are loyal to the state.[26]Under PresidentHosni Mubarak,Al-Ahramlargely ignored, and trivialised the opposition parties to Mubarak's rulingNational Democratic Party,and did not publish much direct criticism of the government.[27]

TheAnti-Defamation League,in a review of Arab newspapers in 2005, stated thatAl-Ahram"is given substantial leeway" by the government so long as they avoid "certain 'taboos'."[28]Reporters Without Borders,in their 2005 report on press freedom in Egypt, reported that editorials in many newspapers, includingAl-Ahram,had become increasingly critical of the National Democratic Party's control of the government, and the corruption of the Mubarak regime.[29]In an interview with Reporters Without Borders, Abdel Halim Qandil, editor of the weekly magazineAl-Arabi,said that the government interfered with independent operation ofAl-Ahramby controlling the printing presses and appointing the editors.[29]

Al-Ahramgenerated controversy in September 2010 when an Egyptian blogger,Wael Khalil,revealed that the newspaper had altered a photo of Middle East leaders walking with United States presidentBarack Obamaso that instead of Obama leading the group, Egyptian president Mubarak was placed in the front when he was actually walking in the rearmost position.[30]Osama Saraya,Al-Ahram'seditor-in-chief, defended the altered photo, stating that it was meant to underscore Egypt's leading role in the peace process: "The expressionist photo is... a brief, live and true expression of the prominent stance of President Mubarak in the Palestinian issue, his unique role in leading it before Washington or any other."[31]

Notable writers and editors

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Mohamed Hassanein Heikalwas the long-termeditor-in-chiefofAl Ahram.He served in the post between August 1957[25]and 1974.[11]Ali Amin served as editor-in-chief between 1974 and 1976.[11]From 1978 to July 2006Ibrahim Nafiewas the editor-in-chief ofAl Ahram.[32]He also served as the chairman of the daily until 2005.[33]Nafie was replaced by Osama Saraya as editor-in-chief in July 2005.[33]In August 2012, Abdel Nasser Salama was appointed editor-in-chief of the paper by the Egyptian Shura Council.[34]in May 2017Alaa Thabetbecame the editor-in-chief of the paper.[35]

Notable writers include:

References

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  1. ^Drost, 1991: 139–140.
  2. ^"Publication overview"(PDF).Ipsos.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 24 April 2014.Retrieved9 November2013.
  3. ^"Al Ahram".Media Ownership Monitor.
  4. ^Middle East Institute, 1950, p. 155.
  5. ^Caryle Murphy (18 December 2012)."The Future of Print".The Majalla.Archived fromthe originalon 23 July 2013.
  6. ^abcdClare Davies."Archive Map: Egypt"(PDF).Speak Memory. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 6 October 2014.Retrieved5 October2014.
  7. ^abTurck, Nancy B. (September–October 1972)."The Authoritative Al-Ahram".Saudi Aramco.Retrieved15 September2013.
  8. ^Talaat I. Farag."Satirical Papyrus and Modern Cartoonists (Part II)".The Ambassadors(15).Retrieved24 November2013.
  9. ^abHend Selim."The Coverage of Egypt's Revolution in the Egyptian, American and Israeli Newspapers"(PDF).Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 3 December 2013.Retrieved29 September2013.
  10. ^Kendall, Elisabeth. "Between Politics and Literature: Journals in Alexandria and Istanbul at the End of the Nineteenth Century" (Chapter 15). In: Fawaz, Leila Tarazi and C. A. Bayly (editors) and Robert Ilbert (collaboration).Modernity and Culture: From the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean.Columbia University Press,2002.ISBN978-0231114271.Start: p.330.CITED: p.338-339.
  11. ^abcArthur Goldschmidt (2000).Biographical Dictionary of Modern Egypt.Lynne Rienner Publishers. p.21.ISBN978-1-55587-229-8.Retrieved13 September2014.
  12. ^Amal N. Ghazal (2008)."Power, Arabism and Islam in the Writings of Muhib al-Din al-Khatib in al-Fath".Past Imperfect.6:135.doi:10.21971/P73K50.
  13. ^abcNemeth, Titus (187).Arabic type-making in the Machine Age. The influence of technology on the form of Arabic type, 1908-1993.Brill.ISBN978-90-04-30377-5.OCLC993032900.
  14. ^Lindsey, Ursula (21 March 2011)."First Draft of History".Newsweek.157(12).Retrieved3 September2013.
  15. ^Nemeth, Titus (187).Arabic type-making in the machine age: the influence of technology on the form of Arabic type, 1908-1993.Leiden. p. 189.ISBN978-90-04-34930-8.OCLC993752295.
  16. ^abMushira Eid (2002).The World of Obituaries: Gender across Cultures and over Time.Wayne State University Press. p.52.ISBN0-8143-3655-8.Retrieved13 September2014.
  17. ^Sahar Hegazi; Mona Khalifa (October 2000)."Increasing the Coverage of Reproductive Health Issues in Egyptian Press Project"(PDF).FRONTIERS/Population Council. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 6 October 2014.Retrieved30 September2014.
  18. ^Islam, 2002,p. 277.
  19. ^Al Ahram Al Arabi.OCLC39723196.
  20. ^"Home".english.ahram.org.eg.
  21. ^"Forbes Releases Top 50 MENA Online Newspapers; Lebanon Fails to Make Top 10".Jad Aoun.28 October 2010. Archived fromthe originalon 29 July 2016.Retrieved11 September2014.
  22. ^"Al Ahram tops online newspapers in Arab world: Forbes".Ahram Online.27 December 2012.Retrieved20 September2013.
  23. ^"Forbes ME reveals top Arab online media".Emirates 24/7.WAM.27 December 2012.Retrieved11 September2014.
  24. ^"Al-Ahram-daily newspaper in Cairo, Egypt with local news and events".Mondo Times.28 November 2011.Retrieved10 September2012.
  25. ^abShimon Shamir (1995).Egypt from Monarchy to Republic: A Reassessment of Revolution and Change.Boulder, CO: Westview Press.[ISBN missing]
  26. ^"Egypt Press, Media".Pressreference.Retrieved10 September2012.
  27. ^"The media in Egypt".BBC News.2 September 2005.Retrieved23 April2010.
  28. ^Arab Media Review: Index of Arab NewspapersArchived8 July 2009 at theWayback MachineAnti-Defamation League, 14 February 2005
  29. ^abEgypt – 2005 annual reportArchived29 August 2012 at theWayback Machine,Reporters Without Borders,January 2005
  30. ^Robert Mackey (16 September 2010)."Doctored Photo Flatters Egyptian President".The New York Times.Retrieved30 September2010.
  31. ^"Al-Ahram newspaper defends doctored photo of Hosni Mubarak".The Guardian.Associated Press. 17 September 2010.Retrieved5 October2010.
  32. ^Zvi Barel (5 April 2006)."In Nafie's pocket: $600 million".Haaretz.Retrieved25 September2013.
  33. ^abGamal Essam El Din (7–13 July 2005)."A radical shake-up?".Al Ahram Weekly(750). Archived fromthe originalon 26 March 2013.Retrieved5 October2014.
  34. ^"New editors appointed by Shura".Daily News Egypt.9 August 2012.Retrieved25 September2013.
  35. ^"علاء ثابت: اختياري لرئاسة تحرير الأهرام 'عبء كبير'".بوابة الفجر.31 May 2017.Retrieved6 July2019.

Bibliography

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  • Merrill, John C. and Harold A. Fisher.The world's great dailies: profiles of fifty newspapers(1980) pp 51–58
  • Islam, Roumeen (2002).The right to tell: the role of mass media in economic development(Illustrated ed.). World Bank Publications.ISBN978-0-8213-5203-8.
  • The Middle East journal, Volume 4.Washington, D.C.: Middle East Institute. 1950.
  • Drost, Harry (1991).The World's news media: a comprehensive reference guide.Longman.
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