Lack of politics sounds death knell for Press

Beirut - A Wikileaks report claimed in 2015 that a Lebanese TV station received $2 million in donations from Saudi Arabia.

 Its slogan was "the voice of the voiceless", but after four decades the prestigious Lebanese daily As Safir is in danger of falling silent, illustrating the unprecedented crisis rocking the media.
Lebanese newspapers, long seen as a beacon of freedom in the region, are suffering because of the country's political paralysis and a slump in funding from regional powers.
An Nahar is also struggling to survive and its employees have not been paid for months. "Our ink has run dry," said Talal Salman, founder and editor-in-chief of As Safir. "The Lebanese Press, a pioneer in the Arab world, is undergoing its worst crisis ever."
The paper has downsized from 18 to just 12 pages, and the fate of its 159 employees remains uncertain. "We've run out of funds and we're desperately looking for a partner to finance the paper," Salman said.
He blames the country's political stalemate, with existing divisions exacerbated by the war in neighbouring Syria.
Lebanon is dominated by two main blocs: one backed by the West and Gulf kingdoms, and the other by Iran and Syria. The rift means there have been no parliamentary elections since 2009, and lawmakers have failed for nearly two years to elect a president.
"Without politics, there is no media, and there is no politics in Lebanon today," Salman said.
Experts say the crisis is being driven by several factors, including an advertising revenue slump that has hit media worldwide and is exacerbated in Lebanon by a fragile security situation.
The long-standing reliance of Lebanese media on political financing from the Middle East's rival powers is also key to the problem. At its core, Lebanon's media sector has long been a playing field for the region's competing powers, and without their financing, newspapers and TV stations simply cannot survive.
During the 1975-1990 civil war, Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, Iraq's Saddam Hussein and the Palestine Liberation Organisation's Yasser Arafat were key financiers. -
 Newspapers struggling to survive>
> A Wikileaks report claimed in 2015 that a Lebanese TV station received $2 million in donations from Saudi Arabia - 10 per cent of what it had asked the kingdom to pay.
> Journalists working for An Nahar newspaper have not been paid for seven months and several have been let go.
> Staff at English-language The Daily Star and the Al Mustaqbal newspaper also faced the problem of payment problem.
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> Caucasus provinces have been plagued by violence Ud magna faciliquat, si Minciduis adion hendiat ionsed
> So far there is no claim of responsibility for thed by violened by violene attack.
 
 

• MENA