Al-Monitor

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Al-Monitor
ALM logo update 2017.png
Type of site
Online newspaper
Available inEnglish, Turkish
Owner (private)
URLal-monitor.com
CommercialYes
Launched13 February 2012
Content license
Copyright

Al-Monitor (Arabic: المونيتور‎) is a news website launched in February 2012 by the Arab American entrepreneur Jamal Daniel[1] and based in Washington, DC,[2] United States. Al-Monitor provides reporting and analysis from and about the Middle East.

History and organization[]

Al-Monitor was launched on 13 February 2012 by the Arab-American Jamal Daniel (who was born in Syria, but grew up in Lebanon).[3] It was founded with the intention to publish a diverse set of perspectives on the region, bridging the gap of information available to both those in the Middle East and those elsewhere with a desire to better understand a rapidly changing region.[4]

In 2018, Al-Monitor partnered with North Base Media which was founded by Marcus Brauchli and Sasa Vucinic in managing Al-Monitor in order "to provide top-level operational and financial decision-making, and work with the company to explore possible content and commercial avenues."[5]

At its founding, the site also translated content from countries in the Middle East; however, the site now only provides original content and does not translate from partners. Among its media partners were El Khabar, Al-Masry Al-Youm, Azzaman, Calcalist, Yedioth Ahronoth, Al-Qabas, An-Nahar, As-Safir (now closed), Al-Hayat, Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal, Habertürk, Milliyet, Radikal (now closed), Sabah, Taraf (now closed), Al Khaleej, and Al-Tagheer.[6]

Content[]

Al-Monitor features reporting and analysis by journalists and experts from the Middle East, with special focus sections (that Al-Monitor terms "pulses") on Egypt, the Persian Gulf, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, North Africa, Palestine, Syria, Turkey as well as Russia's relationship with the Middle East.

In 2015, Al-Monitor relaunched its website and expanded coverage to include further reporting on Washington, the addition of a culture section, a new podcast and video coverage.[7][8]

Contributors have included Vitaly Naumkin, director of the Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences; Kadri Gursel, formerly and editor with Cumhuriyet; Bruce Riedel of the Brookings Institution; Amberin Zaman, formerly a Turkey correspondent for The Economist; Sultan al Qassemi, former columnist with the United Arab Emirates–based The National and one of Time's 140 Best Twitter Feeds of 2011 selections;[9] Barbara Slavin, former diplomatic correspondent for USA Today and senior fellow at the Atlantic Council; Laura Rozen, a former foreign policy reporter for Politico, Foreign Policy, and Yahoo; and Madawi al-Rasheed, professor of social anthropology at King's College London; the late Cairo-based political analyst Bassem Sabry, an Egyptian writer who wrote extensively on Egypt and the Arab Spring;[10] Akiva Eldar, a long-time Israeli political columnist formerly with Haaretz, and Gaza-based Asmaa al-Ghoul.

The site also conducts interviews with newsmakers, including former Deputy Secretary of State William Joseph Burns; former Director of Policy Planning for the U.S. State Department Anne-Marie Slaughter; former U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel; and Mustafa Barghouti, one-time candidate for Palestinian Authority president.

Awards[]

In 2014, the International Press Institute awarded Al-Monitor its Free Media Pioneer Award, stating that Al-Monitor's "unrivalled reporting and analysis exemplify the invaluable role that innovative and vigorously independent media can play in times of change and upheaval".[11]

In 2017, the Online News Association awarded Al-Monitor an Online Journalism Award for Best Explanatory Reporting for the series: "Middle East Lobbying: The Influence Game".[12] The Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing awarded Al-Monitor a Best in Business Award for its Middle East lobbying newsletter in 2019.[13]

Reception[]

In January 2013, Ian Burrell of The Independent called Al-Monitor "an ambitious website that pulls together the commentary of distinguished writers from across the region."[14][15] In 2012, former The Washington Post foreign affairs blogger Max Fisher called Al-Monitor "an invaluable Web-only publication following the Middle East."[16] The Huffington Post has referred to Al-Monitor as "increasingly a daily must-read for insightful commentary on the Middle East,"[17] and The Economist recommended Al-Monitor's Egypt[18] and Iran[19] coverage in its What to Read section.

While acknowledging a range of different opinions among the media site's writers, Lee Smith of the American Jewish Tablet magazine has alleged that Al-Monitor's stance towards Syrian and Lebanese issues often mirrors the official positions of the Syrian government and Hezbollah.[20]

References[]

  1. ^ "About". The Levant Foundation. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  2. ^ "5 years in, Al-Monitor is relaunching its website and expanding its coverage". Poynter. 2017-08-22.
  3. ^ "About Us". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  4. ^ "About". www.al-monitor.com. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  5. ^ "Crest Media to partner with North Base Media in managing Al-Monitor". MarketWatch. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  6. ^ "About Us". Al-Monitor. Archived from the original on 19 April 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
  7. ^ Grinapol, Corinne (August 23, 2017). "Al-Monitor Relaunches". www.adweek.com. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  8. ^ "5 years in, Al-Monitor is relaunching its website and expanding its coverage". Poynter. 2017-08-22. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  9. ^ Fastenberg, Dan (28 March 2011). "The 140 Best Twitter Feeds of 2011". Time. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
  10. ^ "Top Twitter Influentials in MENA". Archived from the original on 2013-05-30. Retrieved 2013-05-25.
  11. ^ "Al-Monitor named Free Media Pioneer Award winner". ipi.media. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  12. ^ "Middle East Lobbying: The Influence Game". Online Journalism Awards. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  13. ^ "2019 Best in Business Honorees – Judging Comments – SABEW". Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  14. ^ Burrell, Ian (29 January 2013). "Rupert Murdoch's Twitter slap-down has big implications - and not just for News Corp editors". The Independent. London. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  15. ^ "Al-Monitor named Free Media Pioneer Award winner," Archived 2014-04-08 at the Wayback Machine International Press Institute (IPI), (26 February 2014). Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  16. ^ Fisher, Max (October 22, 2012). "What then-U.S. national security adviser for Iran says about 'Argo'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  17. ^ "Just Foreign Policy's Iran Online Petition Urges New York Times To Investigate Story Claims". 2012-04-23. Archived from the original on 2012-04-23. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  18. ^ "On Egypt". The Economist. 2013-09-09. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  19. ^ "On Iran". The Economist. 2013-09-23. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  20. ^ "Mideast News Site Offers Diverse Voices—but Often Parrots Syrian Regime," Tablet (June 20, 2013). Retrieved 22 May 2014.
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