Al-Akhbar

Established by the late journalist Joseph Samaha (1949-2007), Al-Akhbar's first issue was published on August 14, 2006 by the media company Akhbar Beirut, after acquiring the license of a newspaper also named Al-Akhbar that was founded in 1953. A pro-Hezbollah and pro-Syrian regime daily, it generally opposes Saudi Arabia, the United States, and the March 14 Alliance. Its Editor-in-Chief is Ibrahim Al-Amine, also the founder and Chairman of Akhbar Beirut.

In December 2010, Al-Akhbar received and published an advanced copy of the US State Department cables by WikiLeaks, after which the newspaper’s website was hacked and then shut down briefly. In 2011, the newspaper launched the English-language website Al-Akhbar English, which was closed in March 2015 due to lack of funds.

On May 14, 2014, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) in The Hague initiated the trial of Al-Akhbar and Ibrahim al-Amine on charges of contempt of the court and obstruction of justice after it published two articles pretending to reveal confidential information on protected witnesses. In August 2016, the STL issued its verdict and ruled that al-Amine be fined EUR 20,000 (eventually paid in October 2018) and that Akhbar Beirut be fined EUR 6,000. In 2019, four journalists resigned from the newspaper, including journalist Sabah Ayoub, writer Joy Slim, economic journalist Viviane Akiki, and the head of the department of economics in the newspaper, Muhammad Zbib. The decision was made to protest against the newspaper's coverage of the popular movements against the ruling class that took over Lebanon for the third week in a row. In 2021, Pierre Abi Saab, deputy editor-in-chief of the newspaper, announced his resignation from the newspaper via a tweet; this move is unrelated to the rationale of the 2019 resignations. When the Samir Kassir Foundation sent a formal request to receive information about the most latest updates from Al-Akhbar, the Editor-in-Chief responded that the Foundation has no right to acquire such information.