After primary and intermediate studies in Thénia, Mezali continued his secondary education at a high school in Algiers, where he obtained his baccalaureate in 1979, and then pursued studies in journalism at the University of Algiers.[3]
Alger républicain
Mezali began his professional career as a journalist in the Alger républicain newspaper in July 1989.[4]
Mezali founded the newspaper Le Matin in 1991 as the editor-in-chief with Saïd Mekbal and Mohamed Benchicou, while remaining a contributor of columns to the Algiers Republican.[6][7]
Mezali left this daily when he was suspended on 26 July 2004 for non-payment of debts, and after its director, Mohamed Benchicou was imprisoned on 14 June 2004 for having written a pamphlet book on President Abdelaziz Bouteflika which he titled "Bouteflika, an Algerian Sham" (French: Bouteflika, une imposture algérienne).[8][9]
Le Quotidien d'Algérie
After the bankruptcy and closure of the newspaper Le Matin, Mezali contributed articles to several Algerian press titles from 2005 until 2012, such as Le Quotidien d'Algérie.[10][11]
La Cité
Mezali waited seven years after the newspaper Le Matin's dissolution before returning to the Algerian journalistic scene by publishing, as a managing editor, a daily newspaper entitled La Cité,[12] which published its first issue on 21 April 2013. It chose as its maxim on the editorial line, "The newspaper of a camp and not of a clan" (French: Le journal d'un camp et non-d'un clan).[13]
Tighremt
Mezali launched another publication with an experimental edition of the Kabyle-language newspaper Tighremt on 22 February 2020.[14][15]
Having directed the French-language daily La Cité since 2012, he wanted to launch his Berber-speaking corollary Tighremt, whose first number was published on 29 February 2020.[16]
Mezali handpicked for proven language skills in Tighremt's editorial team, made up primarily of Tamazight teachers. He commissioned a pair of seasoned specialists in the field, Djamel Ikhloufi and Yacine Zidane, to lead this press title.[17] This Berber-speaking title comes from a bi-weekly and then weekly notebook inserted in the daily La Cité since 2015 for 550 issues.[18]
