 | |
Type of site | News |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Founder(s) | Jamal Daniel |
| URL | al-monitor |
| Launched | February 13, 2012 |
| Current status | Active |
Al-Monitor is a news website launched in 2012 by the Arab-American entrepreneur Jamal Daniel. [1] Based in Washington, D.C., [2] Al-Monitor provides reporting and analysis from and about the Middle East. Al-Monitor is the recipient of the International Press Institute's 2014 Free Media Pioneer Award. [3]
Al-Monitor was launched on 13 February 2012 by Jamal Daniel. [1] It was founded with the mission to foster a deeper understanding between the Middle East and the international community by diving deep with analytical pieces from some of the most trusted, independent authors from across the globe. [1]
In 2018, Al-Monitor partnered with North Base Media which was founded by former editor of The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, Marcus Brauchli and Sasa Vucinic to manage Al-Monitor in order "to provide top-level operational and financial decision-making, and work with the company to explore possible content and commercial avenues." [4]
Al-Monitor features reporting and analysis by journalists and experts from the Middle East, with special focus sections on Egypt, the Persian Gulf, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, North Africa, Palestine, Syria, and Turkey.
In 2015, Al-Monitor relaunched its website and expanded coverage to include further reporting on Washington, the addition of a culture section, a new podcast and video coverage. [5] [6] In 2023, Al-Monitor launched its business [7] and technology [8] coverage, released several newsletters [9] and introduced a subscription model to access its content. In 2024, Al-Monitor integrated article translation in seven languages and narrated audio to listen to articles.
Past and present editors, columnists, and contributors include Amberin Zaman, formerly a Turkey correspondent for The Economist ; Ben Caspit, one of Israel's top national security commentators and analysts; Daoud Kuttab, columnist for Al-Monitor’s Palestine Pulse; Sultan al Qassemi, former columnist with the United Arab Emirates–based The National and one of Time 's 140 Best Twitter Feeds of 2011 selections; [10] Barbara Slavin, former diplomatic correspondent for USA Today and senior fellow at the Atlantic Council ; Laura Rozen, a former foreign policy reporter for Politico , Foreign Policy , and Yahoo ; the late Cairo-based political analyst Bassem Sabry, an Egyptian writer who wrote extensively on Egypt and the Arab Spring; [11] Ali Hashem, correspondent for Al-Jazeera TV; and Jack Detsch, columnist for Foreign Policy ; [12] and Joyce Karam, former Washington correspondent for The National; and Edward Felsenthal, former editor-in-chief of Time. [13]
In 2014, the International Press Institute awarded Al-Monitor its Free Media Pioneer Award, stating that Al-Monitor's "unrivalled reporting and analysis exemplify the invaluable role that innovative and vigorously independent media can play in times of change and upheaval". [3]
In 2017, the Online News Association awarded Al-Monitor an Online Journalism Award for Best Explanatory Reporting for the series: "Middle East Lobbying: The Influence Game". [14] The Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing awarded Al-Monitor a Best in Business Award for its Middle East lobbying newsletter in 2019. [15]
In January 2013, Ian Burrell of The Independent called Al-Monitor "an ambitious website that pulls together the commentary of distinguished writers from across the region." [16] [17] In 2012, former The Washington Post foreign affairs blogger Max Fisher called Al-Monitor "an invaluable Web-only publication following the Middle East." [18] The Huffington Post has referred to Al-Monitor as "increasingly a daily must-read for insightful commentary on the Middle East", [19] and The Economist recommended Al-Monitor's Egypt and Iran coverage in its What to Read section. [20] [21]
Al-Monitor, alone among independent media outlets covering the Middle East, has covered the entire region – including field reporting and high-profile interviews from Israel, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, the West Bank, Gaza, Egypt, the Gulf and North Africa – and all governments consistently since inception in 2012, leading to its unique standing in the region.
Its coverage of Syria has been recognized for the stellar on the ground reporting by Amberin Zaman, as well as independent and opposition-affiliated Syrian reporters in Idlib, Aleppo, and elsewhere, working under often dangerous and difficult conditions. Al-Monitor, throughout its history, has featured contributors from Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, avoiding the taint of 'bias' in its coverage of Israeli-Palestinian issues. Its inclusive and groundbreaking initiatives included a collaboration with PBS News Hour featuring a discussion with an Iranian academic (from Tehran), an Israeli reporter (from Tel Aviv), and former US officials including Dennis Ross and Fiona Hill (from Washington). [22]
Al-Monitor editors and journalists are frequently cited in global media as experts on the Middle East, including by the New York Times, [23] Washington Post , [24] BBC , [25] Fox News , [26] Al-Jazeera [27] and many others. In 2024, the BBC described the outlet as a "respected Middle East newsletter". [28]
In September 2023, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York City, Al-Monitor partnered with Semafor to host the Middle East Global Summit. [29] Interviews at the summit included His Majesty King Abullah II of Jordan; Prime Minister Mohammed Al Sudani of Iraq; Senior Diplomatic Adviser to the UAE President Dr. Anwar Gargash; White House Senior Advisor for Energy and Investment Amos Hochstein; Oman Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi; US Assistant Secretary of State Barbara Leaf, as well as other senior regional ministers and private sector leaders.
The Foreign relations of Egypt are the Egyptian government's external relations with the outside world. Egypt's foreign policy operates along a non-aligned level. Factors such as population size, historical events, military strength, diplomatic expertise and a strategic geographical position give Egypt extensive political influence in the Africa, the Mediterranean, Southwest Asia, and within the Non-Aligned Movement as a whole. Cairo has been a crossroads of the Mediterranean's, Africa's and Asia's commerce and culture for millennia, and its intellectual and religious institutions are at the center of the region's social and cultural landmarks.
Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. Its armed strength was assessed to be equivalent to that of a medium-sized army in 2016.
Al Arabiya is a Saudi state-owned international Arabic news television channel. It is based in Riyadh and is a subsidiary of MBC Group.
Mona Eltahawy is a freelance Egyptian-American journalist and social commentator based in New York City. She has written essays and op-eds for publications worldwide on Egypt and the Islamic world, on topics including women's rights, patriarchy, and Muslim political and social affairs. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, and the Miami Herald among others. Headscarves and Hymens, Eltahawy's first book, was published in May 2015. Eltahawy has been a guest analyst on U.S. radio and television news shows. She is among people who spearheaded the Mosque Me Too movement by using the hashtag #MosqueMeToo.
Al Jazeera English is a 24-hour English-language news channel operating under Al Jazeera Media Network, which is partially funded by the government of Qatar. Al Jazeera introduced an English-language division in 2006. It is the first global English-language news channel to be headquartered in the Middle East.
Jordan–Syria relations are bilateral relations between the sovereign states of Jordan and Syria. Relations between neighbours have ancient roots as both countries are historically parts of the Levant or the region of Syria. The two states were created after the First World War from former Ottoman dominions by way of a secret bilateral agreement between Britain and France.
Since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been accused by several countries of training, financing, and providing weapons and safe havens for non-state militant actors, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, and other Palestinian groups such as the Islamic Jihad (IJ) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). These groups are designated terrorist groups by a number of countries and international bodies such as the EU, UN, and NATO, but Iran considers such groups to be "national liberation movements" with a right to self-defense against Israeli military occupation. These proxies are used by Iran across the Middle East and Europe to foment instability, expand the scope of the Islamic Revolution, and carry out terrorist attacks against Western targets in the regions. Its special operations unit, the Quds Force, is known to provide arms, training, and financial support to militias and political movements across the Middle East, including Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Yemen.
Relations between the neighboring countries of Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are historic, however the diplomatic relationship undergoes major shifts. Both countries maintain diplomatic relations with each other and have embassies in each other's capitals.
Qatar established unofficial trade relations with the State of Israel in 1996, the first amongst all nations of the Arabian Peninsula after Oman reportedly did, concurrently with Israel–Jordan peace treaty. Until 2009, Qatar and Israel maintained trade relations, but due to Operation Cast Lead, Qatar broke the trade with Israel.
Jadaliyya ("dialectic") is an independent ezine founded in 2010 by the Arab Studies Institute (ASI) to cover the Arab World and the broader Middle East. It publishes articles in Arabic, French, English and Turkish, and is run primarily on a volunteer basis by an editorial team, and an expanding pool of contributors that includes academics, journalists, activists and artists.
The Axis of Resistance is an informal Iranian-led political and military coalition in the Middle East. Some media outlets and figures supporting the Resistance Axis refer to it as the Empire of the Resistance.
Al Jazeera Arabic is a flagship news channel that primarily caters to an Arabic-speaking audience. Al Jazeera English, launched in 2006, is the English-language counterpart to Al Jazeera Arabic. According to Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera Arabic is editorially independent from Al Jazeera English, although it shares the same editorial vision. It is based in Doha and operated by the Al Jazeera Media Network.
Middle East Eye (MEE) is a United Kingdom–based media website and channel that primarily focuses on news related to the Middle East, North Africa, and the broader Muslim world. It is reportedly funded by the government of Qatar, though the organization itself denies this.
Ilene Prusher is an American journalist and novelist.
Al Jazeera Arabic is a Qatari state-owned Arabic-language news television network. It is based in Doha and operated by the Al Jazeera Media Network, which also operates Al Jazeera English. It is the largest news network in the Middle East and North Africa region. It was founded in 1996 by the then Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.
The Iran-Saudi Arabia proxy conflict, or the Iran-Saudi Arabia rivalry, is an ongoing struggle for influence in the Middle East and other regions of the Muslim world. The two countries have provided varying degrees of support to opposing sides in nearby conflicts, including the civil wars in Syria and Yemen; and disputes in Bahrain, Lebanon, Qatar, and Iraq. The struggle also extends to disputes or broader competition in other countries globally including in West, North and East Africa, South, Central, Southeast Asia, the Balkans, and the Caucasus.
The Qatar–Saudi Arabia diplomatic conflict refers to the ongoing struggle for regional influence between Qatar and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), both of which are members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It is sometimes called the New Arab Cold War. Bilateral relations have been especially strained since the beginning of the Arab Spring, that left a power vacuum both states sought to fill, with Qatar being supportive of the revolutionary wave and Saudi Arabia opposing it. Both states are allies of the United States, and have avoided direct conflict with one another.
Iran International is a Persian-language satellite television channel and multilingual digital news operation established in May 2017 and headquartered in London aimed at Iranians and people interested in Iranian news, culture, society and sports.
The Islamic Republic of Iran and Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan share a long but complicated relationship which has, at times, been tense and unstable. Jordan has an embassy in Tehran.
Palestine–Qatar relations refer to foreign relations between Qatar and the State of Palestine. The State of Palestine has an embassy in Doha, Qatar. Munir Abdullah Ghannam is the ambassador of Palestine to Qatar. Mohamed Al-Emadi is the ambassador of Qatar to Palestine.
