Tishreen (Arabic: تشرين, romanized: Tishrīn, lit. 'October') is one of the state-owned Arabic daily newspapers published in Syria.[1][2] The daily is based in Damascus and has been in circulation since 1975.[3]Tishreen was named after the Yom Kippur War in October 1973.[4][5]
History and profile
Tishreen was first published in October 1975.[6] It is a state-owned publication in addition to two other state-owned dailies, namely Al Baath and Al Thawra, which were launched earlier.[4] Tishreen Organization for Press and Publishing is the former publisher of the daily.[4] The company also published Syria Times, a defunct English daily and a current e-newspaper.[4] Later Al Wahda institution became the publisher of both publications in addition to Al Thawra.[7]
Content and editors
One of the interviews published in Tishreen was with Nimr Saleh, a dissident member of the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1983.[8] The paper published a poem by Najah Al Attar, culture minister, which was written after the death of Hafez Assad's mother, Naisa Assad, in 1993.[9] Mohammad Kheir Al Wadi, then editor-in-chief, wrote in January 2000 "Zionism created the Holocaust myth to blackmail and terrorize the world's intellectuals and politicians."[10] By 2004 the paper became a platform to support the charities in the country along with Al Thawra.[11] Although the daily is owned by the state, it had a critical stance on local news, especially in regard to corruption and mismanagement in 2012.[12]
As of 2005 the editor-in-chief was Khalaf Al Jarrad[13] who was appointed by Hafez Assad to the post in July 2001.[14] Samira Al Masalmeh was named as the editor-in-chief of Tishreen in January 2012.[15] She is the first female editor-in-chief in the country.[15] Then Youshra Al Masry was named as its editor-in-chief.[16]
Readership and circulation
In 1997, Tishreen launched its website.[17] The paper also has an English news portal, Syria Millennium, which is accessed through its website.[18] In 1992 the paper sold 75,000 copies.[3] Daily circulation of Tishreen was nearly 60,000 in the mid-2000s.[4] The paper's online version was the 48ht most visited website for 2010 in the MENA region.[19]
Incidents
The website of Tishreen was hacked by unknown groups in late April 2011.[20] In December 2012, Naji Assaad, a journalist for the daily, was assassinated in Damascus allegedly by opposition forces who have been fighting against the Assad government since 2011.[21]
References
^Judith Pies; Philip Madanat (June 2011). "Media Accountability Practices Online in Syria". MediaAct (10). doi:10.17877/DE290R-3203.
^ abArvind Singhal; Vijay Krishna (1994). "Syria". In Yahya R. Kamalipour; Hamid Mowlana (eds.). Mass Media in the Middle East: A Comprehensive Handbook. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. p. 265. ISBN9780313285356.
^Lisa Wedeen (2015). Ambiguities of Domination Politics, Rhetoric, and Symbols in Contemporary Syria. Chicago; London: University of Chicago Press. p. 58. ISBN9780226345536.