Post date: Apr 29, 2013 5:38:55 PM
Driven by the Arab spring, a new online newspaper launches in Lebanon betting on stories that go beyond the news.
BEIRUT, LEBANON (APRIL 29, 2013) (REUTERS) - Al-Modon is the latest online newspaper driven by the Arab Spring. Freshly launched in Lebanon, it proposes to go beyond the news and offer analysis, opinion pieces and features to their web-readers.
Whether it will replace the printed newspapers remains to be seen.Al-Modon's editor in chief, Sateh Nour El-Din, is a well known Lebanese journalist with a long career in print journalism.
He said the Arab spring reshaped the Arab world, its people, its politics and its media.
"If the Arab Spring produced sanctities, it is the individual, social and political freedoms... It is the idea of the ballot box, elections and the idea of freedom of communication and freedom of media... and what I am saying is that Al-Modonnewspaper is part of this whole new Arab situation that we support," El-Din said.
El-Din said Al-Modon will differentiate itself from other news websites by offering more in-depth stories.
"The switch from paper to computer, internet, screen and to reading on the screen is an evolution shared throughout the world. I think it has become a necessary step. I had this project a long time ago, an electronic newspaper not an electronic news website, there are a lot of news websites in the country and in the Arab World and it is all successful, 'Bravo' for them. I searched and did not find an electronic newspaper of opinion, position pieces, analysis, features and reports that say the news but present it in a wider way," El-Din said.
Al-Modon covers politics, economy, society, Arab and World affairs, opinions, culture and media. The only section missing from a more traditional newspaper is Sports because it is already widely spread, El-Din said.
Al-Modon head of Arab and World affairs Mazen El-Sayed said providing in-depth news will be a winning bet.
"The feedback we are generally getting is that it is a new platform, lots of people are happy about it and are seeing it as a positive, that can and will improve in the future, and that is what we are working on. But again, generally, the impression and apparently the bet on presenting this different kind of journalism, in form and content, is a winning bet," El-Sayed said.
Looking at internet statistics, Al-Modon's popularity is growing. Its Facebook page has 30,000 likes and online statistics show more than 3,000 people are talking about it.
A campaign to reach more people and a wider readership is already underway.