The Middle East Eye (MEE) is an online news portal covering events in the Middle East and which has been cited by major media publications. The MEE website describes the organization as an independently funded online news organization founded in February 2014 which aims to be the primary portal of Middle East news. The MEE editor is David Hearst, the former chief foreign leader writer for the British daily The Guardian. MEE is wholly owned by M.E.E. Ltd, a UK company that employs about 20 full-time staff in its London offices and also has a network of freelance journalists. The sole director of M.E.E. Ltd is Jamal Bassasso who was a former director of planning and human resources at Al Jazeera.David Hearst has said that his staff came from varied backgrounds saying that “some were activists but this doesn't effect their professional journalism”. Hearst confirmed that MEE is not linked to any government or movement.
Middle East Eye has been used as a reference in several well known news websites such as the BBC News., the Huffington Post., the Guardian. and the New York Times.