 L'Orient–Le Jour (January 30, 2017) | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | Former minister Michel Eddé and his grandchildren (38%), the Choueiri group (22.7%) and the family of the former minister Michel Pharaon (15.49%). Libano-Suisse Insurance Consulting has 0.2 percent. (and others) |
| Founded | 15 June 1971; 53 years ago (1971-06-15) |
| Political alignment | Liberalism |
| Language | French |
| Headquarters | Beirut |
| Website | www |
L'Orient–Le Jour (English:The Orient-The Day) is aFrench-language dailynewspaper inLebanon. ItsEnglish-language edition isL'Orient Today.[1]
L'Orient–Le Jour was first published on 15 June 1971, following the merger of two French-language Lebanese dailies,L'Orient (founded in Beirut in 1924 by Gabriel Khabbaz andGeorges Naccache) andLe Jour (founded in 1934 byMichel Chiha).[2]
Between 1970 and 1975, one of the contributors wasSamir Frangieh.[3] During theLebanese Civil War, the paper was closed down by the occupying Syrian Army for a brief period in 1976,[4] before publication was resumed. The editor-in-chief ofL'Orient–Le Jour, Eduard Saab, was murdered on 16 May 1976.[5]
The paper won theGrand Prix de la Francophonie from the Académie Française in 2021.L'Orient–Le Jour journalist Caroline Hayek was awarded theAlbert Londres Prize for her coverage of the2020 explosion at thePort of Beirut .[6]
The paper covers politics, local and international news, finance and economics, culture, entertainment as well as sports.[7] According to theArab Press Network, an offshoot ofWAN-IFRA, it is the most widely read Francophone daily newspaper in Lebanon and is "partisan to a liberal, Christian leaning line."[8][9]
L'Orient–Le Jour takes a fierce line againstHezbollah, and also against elitecorruption in Lebanon. It was one of the few Arab news outlets to say that the2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel was an unjustifiable massacre. Topics that are still taboo in Lebanon, such ashomosexuality, domestic violence,suicide andabortion, regularly appear in its columns.[6]
The main shareholders ofL'Orient–Le Jour are former ministerMichel Eddé and his grandchildren (38%), theChoueiri group (22.7%) and the family of the former ministerMichel Pharaon (15.5%). The latter's shares are distributed as follows: Pharaon directly holds 2.6% of the shares, his sister, Nayla De Freige, holds 1.7%, the Pharaon Holding SAL has 11% and Libano-Suisse Insurance Consulting has 0.2%.[10] Not all shareholders have been made public, which represent 23.8% of the ownership.[10]
Sfeir began his career as a journalist in 1968 at Lebanon's most widely read Francophone daily newspaper L'Orient-Le Jour, which was established in 1971 and "partisan to a liberal, Christian leaning line," according to the Arab Press Network.
Media related toL'Orient-Le Jour at Wikimedia Commons| Arabic dailies | |
|---|---|
| Other dailies | |
| Other newspapers | |
| Defunct publications | |
