Al-Akhbar Journalists Resign over Paper Policy on Lebanon Uprising

Two Journalists in Hizbullah-led al-Akhbar newspaper submitted their resignation recently rejecting the paper’s position about the nationwide demonstrations that gripped Lebanon since October 17 demanding a complete overhaul of a political system deemed inefficient and corrupt.

Mohammed Zbeeb, editor in chief of al-Akhbar newspaper business page, wrote in a tweet on Monday: “I submitted my resignation from al-Akhbar last week to protest the administration's attitude towards the Revolution.”

The second journalist, Joy Slim, announced her resignation on Facebook last week because of her coverage of the Lebanese revolution.

She wrote: “I submitted my resignation from al-Akhbar after working for five years and a half in the newspaper.”

She added: “The past days were decisive for me, I was disappointed how the paper covered the uprising after working for months (and perhaps years) to provide evidence that it had to happen. As soon as it happened, the newspaper quickly joined the ranks of the counterrevolution, introducing inflammatory plots and rumors that fueled what happened today in the street and the attack of “citizens" (as al-Akhbar called them on facebook) on the protesters.”

It is noteworthy that many articles written by the editor-in-chief of al-Akhbar newspaper, Ibrahim al-Amin, considered the October 17 uprising as “suspicious and funded by foreign embassies.”