BBC CoJo: New opposition newspaper launched in Libya

A post on the BBC College of Journalism site reports on a new opposition newspaper in Libya.

Middle East media analyst at BBC Monitoring Muhammad Shukri says Mayadin, a pro-opposition newspaper distributed in Benghazi but printed in Cairo is just one of dozens of new media outlets that have appeared inside and outside Libya since February.

Mayadin is temporarily published on a weekly basis in a tabloid format, with plans to publish daily in the future. “This is the first newspaper, in the full sense of the word, to be published in the wake of the 17 February revolution,” the London-based title, Al-Sharq al-Awsat quoted Ahmad al-Fayturi, the editor-in-chief, of the new newspaper as saying.

Al-Fayturi said the newspaper’s primary concern is to “document the 17 February revolution in Libya at all political, economic, social, cultural and legal levels”.

He explained that the name Mayadin, which means ‘squares’ in English, “sums up the spring of Arab revolutions”, as all of the revolutions broke out from public squares in Arab cities and capitals.

The post goes on to explain the challenges of printing in one country and distributing in another.

Al-Fayturi said: “We knew in advance that we are running a risk surrounded with problems and hardships. But perhaps what mitigates this situation is the fact that we have enthusiastic Egyptian friends who help us with the work.”

The full BBC CoJo post is at this link.

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