The Lebanese Arabic daily al-Joumhouria announced it has ended its paper edition, due to "limited circulation" and will be focusing to become" a leading Lebanese-Arab digital media platform”.
According to a press statement, al-Joumhouria seeks to strengthen its regional and global presence and provide more innovative and reliable digital content to its wide audience.
This announcement is "motivated by a clear vision of the future and a strong desire to keep pace with rapid technological developments, particularly the artificial intelligence,” says the release.
Within the framework of this ambitious strategy, al-Joumhouria has concluded strategic partnerships with major international media institutions, including a leading media group in the Gulf and well-established European newspapers.
These partnerships open new horizons for media cooperation and enrich the content that al-Joumhouria provides through its pages and electronic platforms to its diverse audience in the Arab world and the countries of expansion.
Al-Joumhouria was founded in 1924 by journalist Saji Asmar. The publication experienced interruptions due to the Lebanese Civil War starting in 1975 and was the subject of two unsuccessful attempts at relaunch in 1985 and 2005.
The newspaper was finally relaunched in 2011 by former Defense Minister Elias Murr.
Elias Murr's son, MP Michel Élias Murr, is the president of the board of directors of the newspaper, while Georges Soulage is its editor-in-chief.
During the 2022 legislative elections, Michel Élias Murr won the Orthodox seat in the Metn constituency, occupied for decades by his grandfather. On July 12, 2021, al-Joumhouria announced its expansion with the launch of "al-Joumhouria TV", which focuses on Lebanese internal affairs.
The Lebanese newspaper al-Joumhouria has joined other publications that have stopped issuing print editions due to a funding crisis, reflecting the protracted economic crisis in Lebanon.
The print media landscape in Lebanon has contracted significantly due to the rise of social media, the economic crisis that began in 2019 and the decline in advertising revenue.
Over the past few years, several renowned Lebanese newspapers, such as The Daily Star, As-Safir and Al-Hayat, have been forced out of the print business. The most recent case is of daily Nidaa al-Watan, which interrupted its paper edition at the end of March, and closed entirely its doors in June.
Out of 110 authorized written media outlets, Lebanon only has eight printed daily newspapers - also available online - including only one French-speaking newspaper, L'Orient-Le Jour. The others are daily newspapers in Arabic.
