Al Raya

Al Raya
الراية
Type Daily newspaper
Publisher Gulf company for printing and publishing
Editor Sadiq Mohammad Al Amari
Editor-in-chief Saleh Al Kawari
Founded 10 December 1979 (1979-12-10)
Political alignment pro-government
Language Arabic
Headquarters Doha
Circulation 18,000 (2008)
Sister newspapers Gulf Times
Website Al Raya

Al Raya (in Arabic الراية also known as Arrayah; The Banner in English)[1] is an Arabic daily newspaper published in Doha, Qatar. It is semi-official newspaper of the country and is one of the five leading Qatari dailies.[2] As for Arabic dailies published in the country Al Raya is among the three major newspapers along with Al Sharq and Al Watan.[3]

History and profile

Al Raya was launched by Gulf company for printing and publishing as a weekly newspaper on 10 December 1979.[4][5] The company which was founded by Ali bin Jaber Al Thani also owns Gulf Times, an English language daily.[4][6] Based in Doha,[7] Al Raya is the second Arabic newspaper published in Qatar.[8] On 27 January 1980 Al Raya was relaunched as a daily newspaper.[5]

In 1996 a corpus was created which included 187 articles published in Al Raya.[9] On 27 April 2012 the paper launched the mapping mangroves project.[10]

In the early 1990s Al Raya had a circulation of 10,000 copies and was distributed in Saudi Arabia and Egypt in addition to its native Qatar.[1] Until 1995 when the other Arabic daily, Al Watan, was launched the paper enjoyed higher levels of circulation, but then lost its one-third of circulation.[8] In 2000 Al Raya was the second best selling newspaper in Qatar with a circulation of 18,000 copies.[11] The estimated circulation of the paper in 2003 was 8,000 copies.[8] Al Raya's circulation increased to 18,000 copies in 2008.[2] The online version of the paper was the 47th most visited website for 2010 in the MENA region.[12]

Political stance and content

Although Al Raya is privately owned it is the semi-official newspaper of Qatar.[13][14] Therefore, it has a pro-government stance.[15] The major rival of the daily is another Arabic Qatari newspaper Al Sharq which has opposite political stance.[16]

Al Raya mostly provides news about the receptions and activities of the ruling family, Al Thani, as well as about official events.[13] In addition, the daily has large supplements on sports and business as well as a special supplement called He and She.[13] The paper offered a weekly page on the environmental issues from 1999 to 2005.[17]

Following the 2013 coup in Egypt Al Raya concentrated on the ongoing demonstrations of supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and ousted President Mohamed Morsi.[16] In August 2013, an editorial of the paper argued that possible US-led intervention against Syria would not be celebrated, but the Assad regime was "useless" and caused no other option than such intervention.[18]

Staff

Yousef Kassim Darwish is the first editor-in-chief of the daily and its sister newspaper, Gulf Times.[4] In the initial period many leading Arab journalists wrote for the daily.[1] As of 2012 Saleh Al Kawari was the editor-in-chief and Sadiq Mohammad Al Amari was the editor of the daily.[19][20] Saleh bin Afssan Al Kuwari is the current editor-in-chief of the daily.[21]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Mohamed M. Arafa (1994). "Qatar". In Yahya R. Kamalipour; Hamid Mowlana. Mass Media in the Middle East: A Comprehensive Handbook. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Retrieved 19 September 2013. – via Questia (subscription required)
  2. 1 2 "Media sustainability index 2008" (PDF). IREX. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  3. ↑ Barrie Gunter; Roger Dickinson (6 June 2013). News Media in the Arab World: A Study of 10 Arab and Muslim Countries. A&C Black. p. 28. ISBN 978-1-4411-0239-3. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 "About us". Gulf Times. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  5. 1 2 "Information and Media". Embassy of Qatar. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  6. ↑ "Al Raya newspaper". Press Fair. 17 September 2010. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  7. ↑ "Al Raya and Gulf Times Newspaper". Wow City. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 William A. Rugh (2004). Arab Mass Media: Newspapers, Radio, and Television in Arab Politics. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-275-98212-6. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  9. ↑ Blaise Cronin (1 October 2006). Annual Review of Information Science and Technology 2007. Information Today, Inc. p. 511. ISBN 978-1-57387-276-8. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  10. ↑ "Al Raya: Project Mapping Mangroves". Qatar Foundation International. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  11. ↑ "World Press Trends" (PDF). World Association of Newspapers. Paris. 2004. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  12. ↑ "Forbes Releases Top 50 MENA Online Newspapers; Lebanon Fails to Make Top 10". Jad Aoun. 28 October 2010. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  13. 1 2 3 "Qatar". The Arab Press Network. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  14. ↑ "Qatar profile". BBC. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  15. ↑ "Qatar newspapers". World Press. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  16. 1 2 "Of Egypt and Arabs". Al Ahram Weekly 3383. 16 June 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  17. ↑ Najib Saab. "The Environment in Arab Media" (Report). Arab Forum for Environment and Development. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  18. ↑ "Middle East press apprehensive over Syria". BBC. 29 August 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  19. ↑ "Qatar mourns victims of shopping mall blaze". Al Jazeera. 3 June 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  20. ↑ "Qatar denies Iran, Syria retaliation in mall fire that killed Western nationals". World Tribune (Abu Dhabi). 6 June 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  21. ↑ Bassam Ramada (23 April 2014). "Qatar under pressure over support for Brotherhood". Al Masry Al Youm via Al Monitor. Retrieved 4 October 2014.

External links

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