Daily Star (Lebanon)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Daily Star is a pan-Middle East English language newspaper edited in Beirut and published alongside the International Herald Tribune. It was founded in 1952 by Kamel Mrowa, the publisher of the Arabic daily Al-Hayat to serve the growing number of expatriates brought by the oil industry. First circulating in Lebanon, and then expanding throughout the region, it not only relayed news about foreign workers' home countries, but also served to keep them informed about the region. By the 1960s it was the leading English language newspaper in the Middle East.
[edit] History
Upon the death of Mrowa in 1966, his widow Salma Elbissar took over the paper, running it until the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War forced the suspension of publication. With peace hopes running high in the beginning of 1983, the paper restarted production under the guidance of Mrowa's sons, but the intensification of the war again put the paper under pressure. The flight of the intelligentsia from the country depleted the paper's staff and its readership. Still, it continued as a daily until mid 1985 and then as a weekly for another year, before ceasing publication once again.
With the arrival of peace in 1991, and the development of a rebuilding program three years later, the paper again looked to publish. With Kamel's first son Jamil Mroue as leader, printing was recommenced in 1996 with modern presses, experienced foreign journalists, and an energetic Lebanese staff.
In 2004, the Daily Star merged its Lebanon and Regional editions choosing to focus on Lebanese expatriates in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Now, the unified edition appears in all countries except for Kuwait which has its own local edition published in partnership with Al-Watan, a Kuwaiti Arabic language daily.
In 2006, the newspaper announced that its paper will soon be available in print in the United States.
[edit] Distribution
The Daily Star signed an exclusive marketing representation, printing and distribution agreement with the International Herald Tribune in 2000. Under the terms of the agreement, the Daily Star represents the IHT in the GCC, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Yemen and Iraq. The Daily Star also produces a local edition in Kuwait.
The Daily Star Kuwait Edition is completely autonomous from the Lebanese print. All 24 pages for normal work days are created in Kuwait, with a special 28-page Weekend Edition carried on Saturday. This separates it from the other regional Daily Star publications. (Daily Star - Kuwait)
The Daily Star has a large online readership mainly from North America, Europe, and Australia. In 2005, its website registered more than 20,000 unique visitors per day.
