Al-Hayat
Al-Hayat (Arabic: الحياة Life) was a London-based, pan-Arab newspaper owned by Saudi Prince Khalid bin Sultan, that had a circulation estimated over 200,000. It was the newspaper of record for the Arab diaspora and the preferred venue for liberal intellectuals who wish to express themselves to a large public. Founded in 1946, the paper closed in March 2020 after years of financial problems.
Type | Daily newspaper |
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Format | Broadsheet |
Owner(s) |
|
Editor | Saud Al Rayes |
Founded | 1946 |
Ceased publication | March 2020 |
Headquarters | London |
Circulation | 150,000 (as of 2009) |
ISSN | 0967-5590 |
Website | alhayat.com archived |
Though rather pro-West and pro-Saudi with respect to articles concerning the Arabian peninsula, it was quite open to various opinions concerning other regional questions. Al-Hayat printed in London, New York, Frankfurt, Dubai, Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Beirut and Cairo. The newspaper had offices in London, Paris, Washington, New York, Moscow, Riyadh, Jeddah, Beirut, Cairo, Baghdad, Dubai, Amman, and Damascus, among others.
The newspaper was "regarded as by far and away the best and most intensely read Arab newspaper", according to a 1997 article in The New York Times. A 2005 article in the same paper described Al-Hayat as a "decidedly Arab nationalist paper". The newspaper was distributed in most Arab countries, and most of its editors were from Lebanon, where Al-Hayat was very popular. It was more critical of the Saudi government than its main rival, Asharq Al-Awsat.
The newspaper's motto was "Life is belief and struggle" (Arabic: إن الحياة عقيدة وجهاد), a line taken from a poem by Ahmed Shawki.