L'Orient-Le Jour (English: The Orient-The Day) is a French-language daily newspaper in Lebanon. Its English-language edition is L'Orient Today.[1]
 L'Orient-Le Jour (January 30, 2017) | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | Former minister Michel Eddé and his grandchildren (38%), the Choueiri group (22.7%) and the family of the former minister Michel Pharaon (15.49%). Libano-Suisse Insurance Consulting has 0.2 percent. (and others) |
| Founded | 15 June 1971 |
| Political alignment | Liberalism |
| Language | French |
| Headquarters | Beirut |
| Website | www |
History
editL'Orient-Le Jour was first published on 15 June 1971, following the merger of two French language Lebanese dailies, L'Orient (founded in Beirut in 1924 by Gabriel Khabbaz and Georges Naccache) and Le Jour (founded in 1934 by Michel Chiha).[2]
Between 1970 and 1975, one of the contributors was Samir Frangieh.[3] During the Lebanese Civil War, the paper was closed down by the occupying Syrian Army for a brief period in 1976,[4] before publication was resumed. The editor-in-chief of L'Orient-Le Jour, Eduard Saab, was murdered on 16 May 1976.[5]
The paper won the Grand Prix de la Francophonie from the Académie Française in 2021. L'Orient-Le Jour journalist Caroline Hayek was awarded the Albert Londres Prize for her coverage of the 2020 explosion at the Port of Beirut .[6]
The paper covers politics, local and international news, finance and economics, culture, entertainment as well as sports.[7] According to the Arab Press Network, an offshoot of WAN-IFRA, it is the most widely read Francophone daily newspaper in Lebanon and is "partisan to a liberal, Christian leaning line."[8][9]
Editorial stance
editL'Orient-Le Jour takes a fierce line against Hezbollah, and also against elite corruption in Lebanon. It was one of the few Arab news outlets to say that the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel was an unjustifiable massacre. Topics that are still taboo in Lebanon, such as homosexuality, domestic violence, suicide and abortion, regularly appear in its columns.[6]
Ownership
editThe main shareholders of L'Orient-Le Jour are former minister Michel Eddé and his grandchildren (38 percent), the Choueiri group (22.7 percent) and the family of the former minister Michel Pharaon (15.49 percent). The latter's shares are distributed as follows: Pharaon directly holds 2.6 percent of the shares, his sister, Nayla De Freige, holds 1.7 percent, the Pharaon Holding SAL has 11 percent and Libano-Suisse Insurance Consulting has 0.2 percent.[10] Not all shareholders have been made publicly available, which represent 23.8% of the ownership.[10]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "L'Orient Today: Contact Information, Journalists, and Overview". Muck Rack. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
- ^ (in French) L'Orient-Le Jour About Us, Lorient Le Jour
- ^ Who's Who in Lebanon (19th ed.). Beirut: Publitec Publications. 2007. p. 132. doi:10.1515/9783110945904.476. ISBN 978-3-598-07734-0.
- ^ "Syria/Lebanon: Summary", Human Rights Watch
- ^ "Chronology April 16, 1976-August 15, 1976". The Middle East Journal. 30 (4): 529. Autumn 1976. JSTOR 4325541.
- ^ a b Hélène Sallon (22 March 2024). "'L'Orient-Le Jour', Lebanon's dashing 100-year-old daily". Le Monde. Archived from the original on 24 May 2024.
- ^ "Clients". KnowledgeView. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
- ^ Fletcher, Lily (16 October 2018). "Antoine Sfeir: French-Lebanese scholar and writer who critiqued political Islam". The Independent. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
Sfeir began his career as a journalist in 1968 at Lebanon's most widely read Francophone daily newspaper L'Orient-Le Jour, which was established in 1971 and "partisan to a liberal, Christian leaning line," according to the Arab Press Network.
- ^ "L'Orient le Jour" Archived 10 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Arab Press Network. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
- ^ a b "L'Orient-Le Jour". lebanon.mom-rsf.org. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
External links
edit
Media related to L'Orient-Le Jour at Wikimedia Commons- Official website (in French)
- Official website (in English)
