http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=industryNews&storyID=2006-11-06T160224Z_01_L06434218_RTRIDST_0_INDUSTRY-MEDIA-SYRIA-DC.XML&WTmodLoc=EntNewsIndustry_C2_industryNews-3
Syria's first private political daily launched DAMASCUS (Reuters) - A group of Syrian businessmen has launched the country's first private political daily, five years after the Baathist government ended a decades long monopoly of the media. Al-Watan, a 16-page broadsheet, was launched at a reception on Sunday night attended by journalists, diplomats and officials. Page one of the first issue had a picture of Israeli students demanding peace talks with Syria. President Bashar al-Assad allowed private media in 2001, a year after he succeeded his late father Hafez al-Assad. Al-Watan, however, has been the only political paper so far to be granted a license, along with three established government dailies. "This has been a dream. Syria has entered a new era and we have been in need of private media to reflect the people's will," publisher Wadah Abed Rabo told Reuters. Rabo, who runs a leading publishing house, said al-Watan (Arabic for homeland) is independent and will adopt a "moderate" political line. Others in the industry expressed doubt that private Syrian media could be completely independent, considering close links between the business class and the government, controlled by the Baath Party since 1963. "There is a real problem in decision making in Syrian media. Just about everything has to be sanctioned by a higher political authority," said leading journalist Johnny Abbo. One diplomat said: "Al-Watan represents a positive step. The identity of the newspaper's owners is murky but, this is the case of many newspapers in the region." Around 80 private newspapers and magazines that mostly cover business, fashion and entertainment have hit the stands in the last few years. Among the most successful was al-Domary, a satirical newspaper launched by renowned cartoonist Ali Farzat, which the authorities swiftly closed. © Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved. -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
