Lebanon's oldest English-language newspaper closes due to financial crisis

BEIRUT (AA) - The Daily Star, Lebanon's oldest English-language daily newspaper, has closed up shop due to the country’s economic crisis.

Editor-in-Chief Nadim Ladki announced to all employees via e-mail Monday that the newspaper had decided to shut down and lay off its staff, according to local media.

“With a heavy heart, I regret to inform you that a decision has been made to lay off all staff at The Daily Star as of October 31, 2021,” Ladki said.

Founded by Kamel Mrowa in 1952, the newspaper has been in a serious economic crisis in recent years. For this reason, its printing was stopped last year. The newspaper's website has not been regularly updated since Oct. 13.

The newspaper stopped publication during the country’s civil war from 1975-1990 and relaunched again in 1996. It could not publish for a period of time in 2009 due to a financial crisis.

The newspaper is owned by the family of former Lebanese prime minister and Future Movement leader Saad Hariri. The Future TV satellite channel, which belongs to the Hariri family, was also shut down two years ago due to the economic crisis.

After the end of the civil war, Beirut became the center of many Arab media organizations, especially of the Gulf countries.

However, in the last few years, due to the economic crisis and political tensions with Lebanon, Gulf media outlets have moved to the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia.