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.
[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 1828, Khedive of Egypt Muhammad Ali ordered, as part of the drastic reforms he was implementing in the province,[a] 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).
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.
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.
A new press code inspired by French law, Matbuat Nizamnamesi, was issued in 1864, accompanied by the establishment of a censorship office.
[9] In 1892, the Lebanese journalist Hind Nawfal published the first monthly journal for women, Al Fatat (The Young Girl), in Alexandria, Egypt.
The distribution of this journal extended from many cities of Iran and the Ottoman Empire to the Caucasus and South East Asia.
[13] The first journals in the Arabian Peninsula appeared in Hijaz, once it had become independent of Ottoman rule, towards the end of World War I.
Two other daily newspapers appeared in the 1930s: Sawt al-Hijaz (Voice of the Hijaz) and al-Madina al-Munawwara (The Radiant City); their publication ceased during World War II but they both reappeared in Jidda in 1946 and 1947 respectively, the first having been renamed "al-Bilad al-Su'udiyya".
[15] Newspaper publishing in the Middle East experienced much development during the Nahda, as literacy increased in the Arab countries.
[17] Corresponding with the innovative spirit of the Nahda, the rise of newspaper publishing in the Middle East resulted in other developments.
[18] 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.
[22][19][23] 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.
