History of Middle Eastern newspaper publishing

The first newspapers in the Ottoman Empire were owned by foreigners living there who wanted to make propaganda about the Western world.[1] The earliest was printed in September 1795 by the Palais de France in Pera, during the embassy of Raymond de Verninac-Saint-Maur. It was issued fortnightly under the title "Bulletin de Nouvelles", until March 1796, it seems. Afterwards, it was published under the name "Gazette française de Constantinople" from September 1796 to May 1797, and "Mercure Oriental" from May to July 1797.[2] Its main purpose was to convey information about the politics of Post-Revolutionary France to foreigners living in Istanbul; therefore, it had little impact on local population.

In 1800, during the French occupation of Egypt, a newspaper in Arabic, al-Tanbih (The Alert), was planned to be issued, with the purpose of disseminating in Egypt the ideals of the French Revolution.[3] It was founded by the general Jacques-François Menou, who appointed Ismail al-Khashab as its editor. However, there is doubt the newspaper was actually ever printed. Menou eventually capitulated after Alexandria was besieged by British forces in 1801.

In 1828, Khedive of Egypt Muhammad Ali ordered, as part of the drastic reforms he was implementing in the province,[lower-alpha 1] the local establishment of the gazette Vekayi-i Misriye (Egyptian Affairs), written in Ottoman Turkish in one column with an Arabic translation in a second column (Ottoman Turkish text was in the right one and Arabic text in the left one). It was later edited in Arabic only, under the Arabic title "al-Waqa'i` al-Misriyya" (The Egyptian Affairs).[5]

Takvim-i Vekayi (Calendar of Affairs).

The first official gazette of the Ottoman State was published in 1831, on the order of Mahmud II. It was entitled "Moniteur ottoman", perhaps referring to the French newspaper Le Moniteur universel. Its weekly issues were written in French and edited by Alexandre Blacque at the expense of the Porte. A few months later, a firman of the sultan ordered that a Turkish gazette be published under the named "Takvim-i Vekayi" (Calendar of Affairs), which would be effectively translating the Moniteur ottoman, and issued irregularly until November 4, 1922. Laws and decrees of the sultan were published in it, as well as descriptions of court festivities.

The first non-official Turkish newspaper, Ceride-i Havadis (Register of Events), was published by an Englishman, William Churchill, in 1840. The first private newspaper to be published by Turkish journalists, Tercüman-ı Ahvâl (Interpreter of Events), was founded by İbrahim Şinasi and Agah Efendi and issued in October 1860; the owners stated that "freedom of expression is a part of human nature", thereby initiating an era of free press as inspired by the ideals of 18th century French Enlightenment.[6] In the meantime, the first private newspaper written solely in Arabic, Mir'at al-ahwal, had been founded by a Syrian poet, Rizqallah Hassun, in 1855, but it had been suspended a year later by Ottoman authorities because of its critical tone regarding their policies. Subsequently, several newspapers flourished in the provinces. A new press code inspired by French law, Matbuat Nizamnamesi, was issued in 1864, accompanied by the establishment of a censorship office.[6]

One of the earliest women to sign her articles in the Arabic-language press was the female medical practitioner Galila Tamarhan, who contributed articles to the medical magazine Ya'sub al-Tibb (Leader in Medicine) in the 1860s.[7] The Syrian writer and poet Maryana Marrash seems to have been the first woman to write in the Arabic-language daily newspapers.[8] Marrash was the first woman who published without a pseudonym in the newspaper.[9] She was also known for her poetry; in 1893 she published a poetry bundle named Bint Fikr.[9] In 1892, the Lebanese journalist Hind Nawfal published the first monthly journal for women, Al Fatat (The Young Girl), in Alexandria, Egypt.[10]

After the first world war, the Ottoman empire disintegrated, Egypt was occupied by the British and new political rules had to be implanted where the press played a big part in.[19][18] The Western ideas and institutions that formed the previous political community undermined the traditional Islamic ideology that used to be the political community before the British occupation.[20] The anti British feelings and demand for British withdraw was a thriving topic amongst political leaders in the Middle East.[18] The newspapers would often publish political debates and opinions and thereby enhancing public interests.[18] Plus, with the rapid technological developments, the press developed quickly.[18] After Egypt gained independence from Britain in 1922, the political leaders started their own news papers, discussing issues such as the search for a national/cultural identity, opposing British domination and conflicts within and among other political parties.[18] A new political system had to be created whereby a combination of the traditional Islamic ideology had to be readjust.[20] Therefore, the dynamic press became an open forum for national and political issues.[18]

The militant nationalist political group, Misr al-Fatah.

With the rise of new foreign ideas, linguistic change appeared during the development of the press.[21][18][22] The growing nationalist movement challenged the journalist to adapt the language to a broader audience.[21][18][22] To propagate a national ideology, a negotiation over language standardization was necessary to reach all.[21][18][22] It had a big effect on the transmission of ideas and knowledge as the public level of literacy rose and had the desire to consume news.[17] For the public, the language standardization created a sense of belonging to the nation.[23] They could express their identity in the social, cultural and political aspects of the press.[17]