al-Masdar News
{{Short description|Multilingual news website}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{italic title}}
{{EngvarB|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox website
| logo = Masdar.png
| screenshot =
| url = {{URL|www.almasdarnews.com}}
| commercial = Yes
| type = News and opinion
| registration = Optional
| language = English, Arabic, Turkish, Spanish, Russian, German, Serbo-Croatian
| owner =
| author =
| editor = Leith Abou Fadel
| launch_date = {{start date and age|2014|08}}
| current_status = inactive
| name = Al-Masdar News
| area_served = the Arab world
| advertising = Yes
}}
Al-Masdar News (sometimes abbreviated AMN) ({{langx|ar|المصدر نيوز}}) was an online newspaper founded by Leith Abou Fadel.{{cite web|title=Contributors & Staff: Editorial Team|url=https://www.almasdarnews.com/contributors/|website=Al Masdar News|access-date=30 April 2017|archive-date=24 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524072246/https://www.almasdarnews.com/contributors/|url-status=dead}} Al-Masdar is Arabic for "the source".{{cite web|title=Al-Masdar: The Source for Arabic Teaching and Learning|url=http://www.iskme.org/our-work/al-masdar-source-arabic-teaching-and-learning|publisher=ISKME.org|access-date=28 April 2017}} Al-Masdar{{'}}s coverage focuses largely on conflict zones in the Middle East: Syria, Yemen, and Iraq. Al-Masdar has been described as being favorable to President Bashar al-Assad during its coverage of the Syrian civil war. As of 2023, it appears to be inactive.{{Cite web |url=http://www.almasdarnews.com/ |title=Official website |access-date=21 January 2023 |archive-date=15 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210715173756/https://www.almasdarnews.com/ |url-status=dead }}
Background
Leith Abou (Zaid) Fadel graduated from Eastern Michigan University in 2013 with a bachelor's degree in economics.{{cite web |title=Commencement Programs and Materials 2013 |url=https://commons.emich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1606&context=commencement |website=Eastern Michigan University |access-date=22 January 2025}} He launched Al-Masdar News (AMN) in August 2014 as a media service that provides frontline news and analysis from the Middle East.{{Cite web |url=https://www.almasdarnews.com/about/ |title=Al-Masdar News - About |access-date=6 May 2017 |archive-date=29 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029104717/https://www.almasdarnews.com/about/ |url-status=dead }} Before launching AMN, he was the editor of the website [http://electronicresistance.net Electronic Resistance],{{cite news |last1=Williams |first1=Sara Elizabeth |title=Onslaught Begins on Syrian Revolution's Ground Zero |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/onslaught-begins-on-syrian-revolution-s-ground-zero/ |access-date=22 January 2025 |work=VICE |date=6 March 2014}} which is currently inactive. Electronic Resistance has been described as "Hezbollah-linked".{{cite news |title=Hezbollah claims IDF soldiers sneaked into Lebanon to retrieve spying device |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/hezbollah-claims-idf-soldiers-sneaked-into-lebanon-to-retrieve-spying-device/ |work=www.timesofisrael.com |agency=Times of Israel |date=June 21, 2017}}
Position
The website was described by the BBC and Newsweek as having a pro-Syrian government viewpoint,{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-38155933|title=Syria conflict: 'Israeli jets' strike outside Damascus|publisher=BBC|date=30 November 2016|access-date=28 April 2017}}{{cite news|first=Tom|last=O'Connor|title=Syria at War: As U.S. Bombs Rebels, Russia Strikes ISIS and Israel Targets Assad|url=http://www.newsweek.com/syria-war-us-rebels-russia-isis-israel-569812|publisher=Newsweek|date=17 March 2017|access-date=28 April 2017}} while The Independent describes it as "sympathetic to the Syrian regime".{{cite news|last=McKernan|first=Bethan|title=Syrian army creates unit just for women after so many sign up to fight Isis|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syrian-army-creates-womens-unit-fighting-isis-islamic-state-bashar-al-assad-regime-terror-group-a7558896.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202123808/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syrian-army-creates-womens-unit-fighting-isis-islamic-state-bashar-al-assad-regime-terror-group-a7558896.html |archive-date=2017-02-02 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|work=The Independent|date=2 February 2017}} The New York Times has described it as a "pro-government website".{{cite news|first1=Robert|last1=Mackey|first2=Hwaida|last2=Saad|author2-link=Hwaida Saad |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/24/world/europe/syrian-refugee-tripped-in-hungary-denies-extremist-ties.html|title=Syrian Refugee Tripped in Hungary Fights Unfounded Accusations of Extremist Ties|work=New York Times|date=23 September 2015|access-date=28 April 2017}} Leonid Bertshidsky writing in Bloomberg News, also calls Al-Masdar "somewhat pro-Assad."{{cite news|last1=Bertshidsky|first1=Leonid|title=Trump Squeezes Putin in Syria. Don't Assume That's Good.|newspaper=Bloomberg.com |date=7 April 2017 |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-04-07/trump-s-squeezes-putin-in-syria-that-s-risky}} The National Interest describes it as "pro-Assad".{{cite web | last=Roblin | first=Sebastien | title=Israeli F-16s Wiped Out a Syrian Missile Complex (Russia Didn't Fire Back) | website=The National Interest | date=3 June 2019 | url=https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/israeli-f-16s-wiped-out-syrian-missile-complex-russia-didn%E2%80%99t-fire-back-60732 | access-date=2019-09-18}} The Jerusalem Post describes it as "generally supportive of the Syrian regime".{{cite web | last=Frantzman | first=Seth J. | title=Rumors seek to drive U.S. and Iran into conflict in eastern Syria | website=The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com | date=24 April 2019 | url=https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Rumors-seek-to-drive-US-and-Iran-into-conflict-in-eastern-Syria-587729 | access-date=2019-09-18}} The New Statesman calls it a "regime-supporting outlet".{{cite web | last=Sabbour | first=Omar | title=How the Assad regime has exploited "evacuation deals" to redirect Isis against the rebels | website=Britain's Current Affairs & Politics Magazine | date=18 January 2019 | url=https://www.newstatesman.com/world/middle-east/2019/01/how-assad-regime-has-exploited-evacuation-deals-redirect-isis-against-0 | access-date=2019-09-18}} The Deputy Editor Chris Tomson has described himself on social media as a "hardcore Assadist on the inside."{{cite web |last1=Thomson |first1=Chris |title=TheDaneChris |url=https://x.com/TheDaneChris/status/1126142501801418752 |website=Twitter |access-date=22 January 2025}}
Notable reports, fake news and disinformation
In 2015, The New York Times accused Fadel of spreading unfounded misinformation about a victim of the Petra László incident: after a right-wing Hungarian journalist assaulted a Syrian refugee, Fadel falsely reported that the refugee was “a former member of Jabhat Al-Nusra (Al-Qaeda)” adding “looks like Europe will be receiving more Islamist scumbags.” Although Fadel withdrew his allegation, it was picked up by a right-wing commentator Ezra Levant, among others.
Following the April 2017 Khan Shaykhun chemical attack in the Idlib Governorate, al-Masdar News published an opinion article by deputy editor Paul Antonopoulos entitled "Jumping to conclusions; something is not adding up in Idlib chemical weapons attack".Antonopoulos, Paul. [https://archive.today/20170405142439/https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/jumping-conclusions-something-not-adding-idlib-chemical-weapons-attack/ Jumping to conclusions; something is not adding up in Idlib chemical weapons attack]. Al-Masdar News. 2017-04-04.{{cite web | title=Media war over Syria | website=ABC Media Watch | date=10 October 2003 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/episodes/media-war-over-syria/9972718 | access-date=2019-09-18}}
A report by the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) published three days later described a "digital forensics" trail which showed how this Al-Masdar opinion article was used as a source by conspiracy, pro-Russian and far-right websites, in particular InfoWars, which recycled Antonopoulos' article in a piece by Mimi al Laham. It described Al-Masdar News as "an unofficial government outlet" and said that it had "repeatedly attacked regime critics and witnesses to regime atrocities, notably the White Helmets."{{cite web|last1=Nimmo|first1=Ben|last2=Barojan|first2=Donara|title=How the alt-right brought #SyriaHoax to America|url=https://medium.com/dfrlab/how-the-alt-right-brought-syriahoax-to-america-47745118d1c9|website=Medium.com|publisher=Atlantic Council|date=7 April 2017}}{{cite news | last=Monbiot | first=George |title=A lesson from Syria: it's crucial not to fuel far-right conspiracy theories|work=The Guardian | date=15 November 2017 | url=http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/nov/15/lesson-from-syria-chemical-weapons-conspiracy-theories-alt-right | access-date=2019-09-18}}{{cite web | title=Report Traces How The "Alt-Right" Spread Pro-Assad Propaganda | website=Media Matters for America | date=14 April 2017 | url=https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/report-traces-how-alt-right-spread-pro-assad-propaganda | access-date=2019-09-18}}{{cite web | last=Ahmad | first=Muhammad Idrees | title=Chomsky and the Syria revisionists: Regime whitewashing | website=alaraby | date=5 May 2017 | url=https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2017/5/5/chomsky-and-the-syria-revisionists-regime-whitewashing | access-date=2019-09-18}} Business Insider showed the conclusions in the AMN article differing markedly from those of other analysts, specifically Fred Hof (director of the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East), US defense officials, President Donald Trump and Dr. Monzer Khalil (rebel-held Idlib Province's health director). Business Insider reporter Natasha Bertrand described Leith Abou Fadel, the editor of Al-Masdar, as someone who had pushed a conspiracy theory in the past, and described him as an "Assad loyalist".{{cite news|last1=Bertrand|first1=Natasha|author-link=Natasha Bertrand|date=8 April 2017|title=From Al-Masdar to InfoWars: How a pro-Assad conspiracy theory got picked up by the far-right|language=en|work=Business Insider UK|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/syriahoax-conspiracy-alex-jones-infowars-syria-trump-hoax-2017-4?r=US&IR=T}}
After Antonopoulos was shown to be active on the neo-Nazi site Stormfront, he was forced to resign from Al-Masdar on 28 April 2017.{{cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/journalist-paul-antonopoulos-outed-for-racist-slurs/news-story/705cf62a502c41cf515a013ebe60d8a9|title=Journalist Paul Antonopoulos outed for racist slurs|date=2 May 2017|author=Jennine Khalik|newspaper=The Australian|access-date=3 May 2017}}{{cite web | title=Paul Antonopoulos forced out - Media Watch | website=Media Watch | date=30 April 2017 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/episodes/paul-antonopoulos-forced-out/9972694 | access-date=16 January 2023}} Al-Masdar issued a statement on behalf of its board of directors,{{cite web|url=https://www.almasdarnews.com/contributors/#board-of-directors|title=Board of Directors|work=Al-Masdar News|date=3 May 2017|access-date=1 December 2016|archive-date=24 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524072246/https://www.almasdarnews.com/contributors/#board-of-directors|url-status=dead}} saying they found his behaviour "wholly unacceptable" and strongly condemned it, while also apologizing to its readers and all those offended by his actions.{{cite web|url=https://www.almasdarnews.com/board-directors-statement-april-28th-2017/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621015652/https://www.almasdarnews.com/board-directors-statement-april-28th-2017/|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 June 2018|title=Board of Directors Statement – April 28th, 2017|work=Al-Masdar News|date=28 April 2017}}
A 2018 report by the Alliance for Securing Democracy, based on analysis of its "Hamilton 68" database of Russian disinformation Twitter accounts, showed that Al-Masdar is a main source of Syria-related propaganda for Russian accounts aimed at US audiences.{{cite web | title=Deep Inside a Pro-Putin Network That's Helping Trump Divide America | author= Denise Clifton | website=Mother Jones | date=9 November 2018 | url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/11/russian-trolls-putin-trump-twitter-hamilton/ | access-date=2019-09-18}}