Navigation

Tag Archives | newspaper

Assafir Newspaper Printed Its Final Issue

By on January 2, 2017 in Journalism

2016 is over and so is unfortunately the paper print of Assafir daily. The last issue was printed on the last day of 2016 with an editorial titled “The nation without Assafir”.

It was originally planned for the newspaper to stop operating in March 2016 due to financial difficulties but it continued publishing for a few more months after getting some support. Talal Salman, its Chief Editor, blamed the closure on the crisis currently affecting all media outlets (falling sales and decrease in advertising), but in fact I believe it is their failure to adapt to changing times that should be blamed.

Advertisers are currently spending more on digital channels, and Chief Editors can no longer expect their newspapers to survive unless they accept to adapt and provide good content through their websites, social media, apps and even blogs.

I personally used to follow some of Assafir’s editors and will definitely miss reading their articles, so I really hope they keep publishing on some online platform.

0

We Are The Joke For April Fools’ Day This Year

By on April 1, 2016 in Lebanon

01-04-2016karaktair

On the occasion of April Fools’ day, today’s caricature in the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat was simply our Lebanese flag as a statement that our republic is nothing more than a joke.

Not sure whether we should laugh or cry.

Update:

Asharq Al-Awsat ended up removing the caricature from their website following the rage expressed over it on social media.

2

It’s Official: Assafir Will Stop Publishing

By on March 24, 2016 in Lebanon

Several people from Assafir confirmed the rumors we all heard last week about a possible closure of the newspaper. Sanaa Khoury, a journalist in Assafir, was among the firsts who announced it on twitter.

IMG_1677.PNG

Assafir has been in print for 42 years now and was among the leading newspapers in Lebanon, so it’s definitely odd to see it closing down with its employees getting laid off. But then again, it’s only logical for the publishers to halt their operations if there’s not enough revenue.

Throughout my teenage years I got used to reading Annahar as it was my parents favorite, but that was up till 2005 when Gebran Tueini was assasinated and they then switched to buying Assafir. And although I personally enjoy flipping through the physical copy, I never felt the need to subscribe to a newspaper when I got married and moved out in 2011, mainly because I was staying up to date with news through the available news websites and feed readers.

This actually brings me to a related news on ministers Sejaan Azzi and Ramzi Jreige calling for support to media outlets suffering from financial difficulties. Times are changing, and any support a newspaper will be getting is going to be temporary in my opinion if people simply don’t feel like buying a physical copy anymore, just like stone tablets were abandoned for documentation hundreds of years ago. Moreover, the closure of a newspaper will not affect the culture in Lebanon if journalists kept expressing their opinions online because it’s the content that matter and not the medium. Publishers should simply adapt to the changing news consumption habits and act accordingly, and if the government feels like being nice then it should probably consider helping the laid off employees.

Photo via Al Arabiya

Update:

It was reported today that Assafir got some financial support and will keep publishing at least for the next few months. A press conference will be held by the management on Wednesday to talk about the issue with the public.

0

NSFW – 1973 Liberality VS 2014 Rigorism in Lebanon

By on July 17, 2014 in Lebanon

I just stumbled upon this old scene from a 1973 Lebanese movie and quickly recalled AlJoumohouri’a article yesterday bashing the beach parties at C-Flow Jbeil.

Untitled-13_1_

مسبح أو كاباريه؟

ففي نهاية الأسبوع قررت الصديقات الاستجمام في لبنان وزيارة أحد المسابح المميزة التي تجمع اللبنانيين على اختلاف أعمارهم وطوائفهم وإنتماءاتهم السياسية، وتهتم بهم وتقدّم لهم «خدماتٍ خاصّة».

فإستُقبلن بحفاوة وترحيب كبيرين ودخلن المسبح الضخم محاولاتٍ الاختلاط بلبنانيين ولبنانيات أمثالهنّ لكنّ الامر لم ينجح. فما رأينه على شاطئ الـ«سي ف» اللبناني من مظاهر خلاعة وسكر ورقص مبتذل وتصرّفات وقحة غير أخلاقية يتجاوز بأشواط مشاهدَ العراة على الشواطئ اليونانية.

فلِيضمن المنتجع لرواده عيشهم تجربة مريحة ومسلية مليئة باللذة والمتعة والشغف، أوجد «باراً» في وسط بركة السباحة وسمح لعشاقه بإصطحاب مشروبهم معهم الى المياه. أما الموسيقى الحماسية التي يلعبها فتدفعهم الى الجنون وتطلق العنان لمخيّلتهم فيبتكرون رقصات مبتذلة تصل الى حدّ ممارسة الجنس علناً.

لا يكتفي المنتجع بتدليل زبائنه بهذا القدر فقط، وإنما في ذروة اللذة يحضر لهم ثلاث عارضات من جنسيات غير لبنانية يرقصن على المنصّة أمام أعين مئات الرجال والنساء، إلّا أنه لا يسمح إلّا للفتيات بمشاركة العارضات الرقص مباشرةً على المنصّة.

Source

I found it really funny that back in the ’70s it was quite normal for Lebanese actors to french kiss in movies and even perform erotic scenes, while Beirut also had licensed brothels and our newspapers used to advertise vibrators!

Fast forward 40 years, sex toys are banned from the Lebanese market, we make a fuss in the press every time a couple of actors kiss on TV, and then comes a journalist from Al-Joumhouria criticizing the beach parties at C-Flow Jbeil which caters for adults only!!

I don’t want to imagine what’s coming next in another 40 years time!

1

Addiyar newspaper being epic

By on July 23, 2013 in Funny

Rami Al Amine posted this funny snapshot from Addiyar newspaper today. Apparently one of their journalists, Mohamad Ballout, failed to report to them some news that eventually made it to all local news outlets. So they dedicated a few lines on the front page today to “thank” him for his work!

addiyar

1

Charles Ayoub begs Bashar Al-Assad for money

By on June 24, 2013 in What the fuck!

charlesayoub

I’m not sure what Charles Ayoub has been smoking lately, but it sure seems like good stuff. The man wrote an article literally begging the Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad to lend him $700,000 since his newspaper (Addiyar) is going through a financial crisis, otherwise he’ll have to act against his father’s will and sell his house!

You can read the whole article here.

2

Another vibrator ad from the 1960s

By on June 21, 2013 in Lebanon

Looks like these “massaging devices” were quite popular back in the 60s! You can check another ad I posted last year here.

vibrator ad

Even though selling sex toys is considered illegal in Lebanon, I always spot some vibrators on display at some pharmacies like Mazen in Cornishe El Mazraa.

I guess legalizing these toys will definitely ease the tension between the sexually frustrated fighting militias nowadays!

via Pure Nostalgia

3

The independent state of Roumieh

By on February 20, 2013 in Lebanon

Roumieh prison

This photo by Marwan Tahtah was taken in Roumieh prison and made it to the cove page of Al-khbar’s issue for today. If only these muscles were put to good use to stop the chaos in Roumieh!

Check this article on how the prison is currently more like a command centers for some criminals on the run due to the lack of control over the Islamist prisoners.

5

Powered by WordPress. Designed by WooThemes