Type Daily newspaper Headquarters Barcelona | Language Catalan ISSN 2014-010X | |
Founded 11 April 2010 (2010-28-11) Political alignment Catalanism
Centrism
Catalan independentism | ||
Ara ([ˈaɾə] is a Catalan daily newspaper that began publication on 28 November 2010, coinciding with the Catalan parliamentary elections. Between 60,000 and 90,000 copies are printed each day. It is the third most read daily newspaper in Catalonia, and the most read daily newspaper written exclusively in the Catalan language. Its regional edition, Ara Balears, is the most widespread Catalan language newspaper on the Balearic Islands.
Contents
The publisher is Carles Capdevila, the president is Ferran Rodés, and the CEO and Editor is Mònica Terribas. The newspaper's advisory council includes journalists Antoni Bassas, Albert Om and Toni Soler, all known for their work with the Catalan public television channel, TV3. Ara's content includes Catalan translations of reports and articles from the New York Times International Edition.
Ara's shareholders are the group Cultura 03, which also publishes the magazines Sàpiens, TimeOut Barcelona, Descobrir, and Cuina; Ferran Rodés, representing Havas Media; and Artur Carulla, president of the Agrolimen holding company. In September 2010, Antoni Bassas announced that he would participate as a shareholder.
History and profile
The first edition of Ara was published on 28 November 2010, selling out the 120,000 copies printed.
In 2015 Ara received the 17th European Newspaper Award in the category of regional newspaper.
Editorial policy and political alignment
The newspaper is closely associated with Catalan independentism.
Unlike two of its main competitors, La Vanguardia and El Periódico de Catalunya (considered supportive, respectively, of the centre-right Convergència i Unió and the centre-left Socialists' Party of Catalonia), Ara's editorial policies are not considered to be supportive of any particular party or specific political ideology.
Hence, the newspaper is generally considered as centrist regarding the left-right divide and strongly Catalanist regarding the issue of relations between Spain and Catalonia. The newspaper's third main competitor, El Punt Avui, born in 2011 of the fusion of the long-standing Avui and El Punt newspapers, is similar in this regard.
Expansion
The newspaper is printed in Barcelona and distributed throughout Catalonia. Since 2011, distribution was launched also on the Balearic Islands, soon becoming the most read media in Catalan language in the region. In February 2012, the distribution was extended to some areas of the Valencian Community, especially in the Province of Castelló and in the city of Valencia.