El Watan

El Watan
El Watan logo
Type Daily newspaper
Format Tabloid
Owner(s) SPA El Watan Presse
Editor Omar Belhouchet
Founded 1991
Political alignment Centre-Right
Language French
Headquarters Maison de La presse Tahar Djaout, 1er Mai, Algiers, Algeria
Circulation 200,000 (May 2006 – May 2007)
Website El Watan

El Watan (Arabic:الوطن, meaning the Homeland) is an independent French-language newspaper in Algeria.

History and profile

The paper was founded in 1990 after Omar Belhouchet and nineteen colleagues left the FLN government-owned newspaper El Moudjahid (English: "The Holy Warrior").[1]

It aims to promote democracy and to give coverage to the Algerian opposition, and has acted as an outspoken voice against censorship and corruption. It has been suspended several times by the Algerian government, and journalists and editors jailed for various offenses. Its reporters have, according to the international press watchdogs Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) been targeted by both government forces and Islamist insurgents.[2][3]

In July 2007 the paper started the first weekend edition in Algeria. Subsequently the newspaper started economic, real estate, and television supplements, with the goal of having one supplement per day. In 2008 El Watan launched a trilingual Arabic, English, and French website. Fayçal Métaoui, an El Watan journalist, said that the paper created the website because its most significant competition originated from Arabic-language and English-language news sites.[4]

The paper's online version was the 45th most visited website for 2010 in the MENA region.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Youssef M. Ibrahim (26 July 1991). "Algeria in Ferment -- A Special Report; In Algeria, Hope for Democracy but Not Economy". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
  2. ↑ "Algeria – 2003 Annual report". Reporters Without Borders (Algeria). 2 May 2003. Archived from the original on 31 October 2007. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
  3. ↑ "Reporter for El Watan attacked and kidnapped" (Print). Reporters Without Borders (Algeria). 23 July 2002. Archived from the original on 31 October 2007. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
  4. ↑ The Report: Algeria 2008. Oxford Business Group, 2008. 199. Retrieved from Google Books 20 September 2012. ISBN 1-902339-09-6, ISBN 978-1-902339-09-2.
  5. ↑ "Forbes Releases Top 50 MENA Online Newspapers; Lebanon Fails to Make Top 10". Jad Aoun. 28 October 2010. Retrieved 11 September 2014.

External links