Al-Wafd
{{short description|Daily newspaper published by the Wafd party in Giza, Egypt}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox newspaper
| name = Al-Wafd
الوفد
| image =
| caption =
| type = Daily
| format = Broadsheet
| foundation = {{start date and age|1984}}
| ceased publication =
| price =
| owners = Wafd Party
| political = Opposition (Centre-right, National liberalism, Egyptian nationalism)
| publisher = Wafd Party
| editor =
| staff =
| circulation =
| headquarters = Dokki, Giza, Egypt
| ISSN =
| website = [http://www.alwafd.org/ Al Wafd]
}}
Al-Wafd ({{langx|ar|الوفد}} meaning the Mission in English){{cite web|title=The Political Role of the Media|url=http://countrystudies.us/egypt/116.htm|publisher=Country Studies|accessdate=7 October 2014}} is the daily newspaper published by the Wafd party in Giza, Egypt.
History and profile
Al-Wafd was launched in 1984.{{cite web|title=The Coverage of Egypt's Revolution in the Egyptian, American and Israeli Newspapers|url=https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/fileadmin/documents/Publications/fellows__papers/2011-2012/The_Coverage_of_Egypt_s_Revolution.pdf|work=Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism|access-date=29 September 2013|author=Hend Selim |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203011034/https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/fileadmin/documents/Publications/fellows__papers/2011-2012/The_Coverage_of_Egypt_s_Revolution.pdf|archive-date=3 December 2013 }}{{cite book|author=Mohamed El Bendary|title=The Egyptian Revolution: Between Hope and Despair: Mubarak to Morsi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=faKf551DFxUC&pg=PA91|year=2013
|publisher=Algora Publishing|isbn=978-0-87586-992-6|page=91}} As the house organ of the liberal-democratic neo-Wafd party, the paper is considered an opposition paper,{{cite book|author=Andrew Hammond|title=Popular Culture in the Arab World: Arts, Politics, and the Media|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O06bOHRW7s8C&pg=PA237|year=2007|publisher=American Univ in Cairo Press|isbn=978-977-416-054-7
|page=237}} although both party and paper have oscillated between support and opposition for the regime.
It is one of the highest circulated papers among those dailies owned by a political party in the country.Rasha Allam. [http://ejc.net/media_landscapes/egypt Media landscapes. Egypt] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140927045245/http://ejc.net/media_landscapes/egypt|date=27 September 2014}} European Journalism Centre. Retrieved 29 December 2013. The paper sold more than half a million copies in the 1990s.{{cite journal|author=Yushi Chiba
|title=Media History of Modern Egypt: A Critical Review|page=10|url=http://hdl.handle.net/2433/155745|journal=Kyoto Working Papers on Area Studies: G-COE Series|year=2010|volume=84 |hdl=2433/155745}} The circulation of the daily in 2000 was 600,000 copies.{{cite web|author1=Sahar Hegazi|author2=Mona Khalifa|title=Increasing the Coverage of Reproductive Health Issues in Egyptian Press Project|date=October 2000
|url=http://www.popcouncil.org/uploads/pdfs/frontiers/FR_FinalReports/egyptmedia.pdf|work=FRONTIERS/Population Council|access-date=30 September 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006201517/http://www.popcouncil.org/uploads/pdfs/frontiers/FR_FinalReports/egyptmedia.pdf|archive-date=6 October 2014}}
Mohamed Ali Ibrahim was named as the editor-in-chief of the paper in 2005.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} Then Abbas Al Tarabili served as the editor-in-chief until February 2009. During the Egyptian revolution in 2011 Osama Heikal was the editor-in-chief.{{cite web|title=Egypt's reinstatement of Information Ministry is a setback|url=http://cpj.org/2011/07/egypts-reinstatement-of-information-ministry-is-ma.php|work=Committee to Protect Journalists|accessdate=3 January 2014|location=New York|date=12 July 2011}} He was appointed information minister in July 2011.
The paper has also an online version, called Al Wafd Gate.{{cite web|title=Media Situation in Egypt: Thirteenth report for the period June and August 2014|url=http://asahnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/MM-13-En-2014-A1.pdf|work=Al Sawt Al Hurr|access-date=6 October 2014
|format=Report}}
Controversy
Abbas Al Tarabili, then chief editor of the daily, was fired in February 2009 due to low circulation rates that were between 9,000 and 10,000.{{cite news|title=Egypt: Al-Wafd newspaper editor fired because of drop in circulation |url=http://www.arabpressnetwork.org/articlesv2.php?id=3089 |accessdate=15 March 2013 |work=The Arab Press Network |date=27 February 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808054534/http://www.arabpressnetwork.org/articlesv2.php?id=3089 |archivedate=8 August 2014 }}
On 4 September 2013, the paper portrayed the US President Barack Obama as Satan due to his support for opposition forces in Syria.{{cite news|title=Egyptian newspaper creates image of Obama as Satan|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/egyptian-newspaper-creates-image-obama-satan-article-1.1446726|accessdate=25 September 2013|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=5 September 2013|author=Leslie Larson}}
See also
{{Portal|Egypt|Journalism}}
References
{{Reflist|33em}}
External links
- [http://alwafd.org/ Official website]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wafd}}
Category:1984 establishments in Egypt
Category:Newspapers established in 1984
Category:Arabic-language newspapers