Al-Monitor

Al-Monitor
Type of site
 Online newspaper
Available in English, Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Turkish
Owner Jamal Daniel (Private)
Website al-monitor.com
Commercial Yes
Launched 13 February 2012
Content license
 Copyright

Al-Monitor is a media site launched in February 2012 by the Arab American entrepreneur Jamal Daniel[1] and based in Washington, DC. Al-Monitor provides reporting and analysis from and about the Middle East through both original and translated content. The site has media partnerships with major news organizations from countries in the Middle East.[2] Among its media partners are El Khabar, Al-Masry Al-Youm, Azzaman, Calcalist, Yedioth Ahronoth, Al-Qabas, An-Nahar, As-Safir, Al-Hayat, Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal, Habertürk, Milliyet, Radikal, Sabah, Taraf, Al Khaleej, and Al-Tagheer.

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] Its board, consisting of academics, journalists, and business executives, includes Jamal Daniel; Simon Ayat, Executive Vice President and CFO of Schlumberger; Tony Chase, Chairman & CEO of ChaseSource, L.P; Joanna Hitchcock, Former Director of the University of Texas Press; Ambassador Nassif Hitti, Senior Arab League Official, Former Head of the Arab League Mission in Paris and Permanent Observer at UNESCO; David Leebron, President of Rice University; Dr. Andrew Parasiliti, RAND Corporation; Dr. Paul Salem, Vice President of the Middle East Institute, Director of the Arab Transitions Initiative; Denis Simonneau, Member of the GDF SUEZ Executive Committee; John Solomon, Editor and Vice President for Content and Business Development of The Washington Times; and Jason Woods, COO of Al-Monitor.

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, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Turkey.

Contributors have included Sultan al Qassemi, columnist with the United Arab Emirates–based The National and one of Time's 140 Best Twitter Feeds of 2011 selections;[4] Barbara Slavin, former diplomatic corresondent 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;[5] 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 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.

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."[6] 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".[7] The Washington Post's Max Fisher has called Al-Monitor "an invaluable Web-only publication following the Middle East."[8]

Controversy

Pro-Hezbollah and pro-Assad positions

Some commentators have alleged Al-Monitor follows the agenda of the Iranian and Syrian governments and Hezbollah.[9][10] In 2011, Al-Monitor founder Jamal Daniel bought 20% of As-safir, described by the New York Times as a "pro-Assad Lebanese newspaper".[11] Daniel himself is said to have been a close friend of Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem when the latter was Syria's envoy to the U.S.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "About". The Levant Foundation. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  2. ↑ "About Us". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
  3. ↑ "About Us". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  4. ↑ Fastenberg, Dan (28 March 2011). "The 140 Best Twitter Feeds of 2011". Time. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
  5. ↑ Top Twitter Influentials in MENA
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ "Al-Monitor named Free Media Pioneer Award winner," International Press Institute (IPI), (26 February 2014). Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  8. ↑ Fisher, Max (October 22, 2012). "What then-U.S. national security adviser for Iran says about 'Argo'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  9. ↑ "Al-Monitor, a pro-Tehran website in Washington," Iranian American Forum. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  10. ↑ "Mideast News Site Offers Diverse Voices—but Often Parrots Syrian Regime," Tablet (June 20, 2013). Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  11. ↑ Cumming-Bruce, Nick (18 February 2013). "U.N. Rights Officials Urge Syria War Crimes Charges". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 April 2015. the pro-Assad Lebanese newspaper As-Safir
  12. ↑ Syrian American acquire stake in as safir
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