Type Daily newspaper Editor Ibrahim Mansour | Publisher Ibrahim El Moellam Editor-in-chief Ibrahim Eissa | |
Founder(s) Ibrahim El Moellam
Ibrahim Eisaa Founded 1 July 2011; 5 years ago (2011-07-01) | ||
El Tahrir (in Arabic التحرير meaning The Liberation) is a privately owned Classical Arabic 18-page daily published in Egypt. It was named after the Egyptian Tahrir Square which has been witnessing demonstrations. The daily was the second publication launched after "the revolution".
Contents
History and ownership
The daily was launched in July 2011 following the ouster of Hosni Mubarak and was named after Tahrir Square. It is the second daily started during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011.
One of its owners and board chairman is Ibrahim El Moellam, who also owns the independent El Shorouk daily. Ibrahim Eissa is the other founder and editor-in-chief of the daily.
Content and editors
El Tahrir is an 18-page daily. In July 2011, Ibrahim Mansour, the executive editor of the daily, argued that it primarily targets young readers, who "lost faith in the print media because it served the regime." Significant editors of the daily include Ibrahim Mansour, Belal Fadl, Omar Taher and Ahmed Esseily. Mahmoud Salem, who was a leading novelist, published weekly articles in the daily, the last of which involved criticisms over the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
Following the US President Barack Obama's description of the July 2013 events in Egypt as a "coup" the daily published an English message on its front page on 4 July, saying "It's a revolution .. not a coup."
Political approach
The first issue of the daily reported "it will be a replica of El Dostour in terms of its opinionated content and sarcastic flourishes." The initial approach of the paper was "to represent the voice of the January 25 Revolution," which opposed the Mubarek regime. It tries to challenge authoritarianism and corruption and all the red lines Egypt's rulers try to draw around a free press. Following the election of Abdel Fattah Sisi as president of Egypt the headline of the paper was "Egypt is in joy".
Controversy
In August 2012, El Tahrir and two other dailies, El Masry El Youm and El Watan, blanked their columns, protesting the appointment of editor-in-chiefs by the Egyptian Shura Council. On 4 December 2012, Al Tahrir together with eleven papers and five TV channels went one strike for one day, protesting the then draft constitution.