Al-Wafd (Arabic: الوفد meaning the Mission in English)[1] is the daily newspaper published by the Wafd party in Giza, Egypt.

Al-Wafd
الوفد
TypeDaily
FormatBroadsheet
Owner(s)Wafd Party
PublisherWafd Party
Founded1984; 40 years ago (1984)
Political alignmentOpposition (Centre-right, National liberalism, Egyptian nationalism)
HeadquartersDokki, Giza, Egypt
WebsiteAl Wafd

History and profile

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Al-Wafd was launched in 1984.[2][3] As the house organ of the liberal-democratic neo-Wafd party, the paper is considered an opposition paper,[4] although both party and paper have oscillated between support and opposition for the regime.

It is one of the highest circulated papers among those dailies owned by a political party in the country.[5] The paper sold more than half a million copies in the 1990s.[6] The circulation of the daily in 2000 was 600,000 copies.[7]

Mohamed Ali Ibrahim was named as the editor-in-chief of the paper in 2005.[citation needed] Then Abbas Al Tarabili served as the editor-in-chief until February 2009.[8] During the Egyptian revolution in 2011 Osama Heikal was the editor-in-chief.[9] He was appointed information minister in July 2011.[9]

The paper has also an online version, called Al Wafd Gate.[10]

Controversy

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Abbas Al Tarabili, then chief editor of the daily, was fired in February 2009 due to low circulation rates that were between 9,000 and 10,000.[8]

On 4 September 2013, the paper portrayed the US President Barack Obama as Satan due to his support for opposition forces in Syria.[11]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "The Political Role of the Media". Country Studies. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  2. ^ Hend Selim. "The Coverage of Egypt's Revolution in the Egyptian, American and Israeli Newspapers" (PDF). Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  3. ^ Mohamed El Bendary (2013). The Egyptian Revolution: Between Hope and Despair: Mubarak to Morsi. Algora Publishing. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-87586-992-6.
  4. ^ Andrew Hammond (2007). Popular Culture in the Arab World: Arts, Politics, and the Media. American Univ in Cairo Press. p. 237. ISBN 978-977-416-054-7.
  5. ^ Rasha Allam. Media landscapes. Egypt Archived 27 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine European Journalism Centre. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  6. ^ Yushi Chiba (2010). "Media History of Modern Egypt: A Critical Review". Kyoto Working Papers on Area Studies: G-COE Series. 84: 10. hdl:2433/155745.
  7. ^ Sahar Hegazi; Mona Khalifa (October 2000). "Increasing the Coverage of Reproductive Health Issues in Egyptian Press Project" (PDF). FRONTIERS/Population Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  8. ^ a b "Egypt: Al-Wafd newspaper editor fired because of drop in circulation". The Arab Press Network. 27 February 2009. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  9. ^ a b "Egypt's reinstatement of Information Ministry is a setback". Committee to Protect Journalists. New York. 12 July 2011. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  10. ^ "Media Situation in Egypt: Thirteenth report for the period June and August 2014" (Report). Al Sawt Al Hurr. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  11. ^ Leslie Larson (5 September 2013). "Egyptian newspaper creates image of Obama as Satan". New York Daily News. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
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