CAIRO: Menassat, a Beirut-based regional news website, was shut down Tuesday due to a lack of finances to continue funding the project.
Menassat, which means platforms in Arabic, was intended “to be a platform where Arab media professionals can offer and exchange views and information free of censorship and political or sectarian agendas [and their] philosophy is the promotion of freedom of expression, as stated on their website.
Founded in 2007, Menassat was initially funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Dutch media advocacy group Free Voice, through its program Investing in the Future. After August 2008, only Free Voice provided funding.
The website, which includes content in both Arabic and English, set out to “expose the problems and challenges that journalists in the Arabic-speaking world face on a daily basis, and to help overcome them, according to the website. Journalists involved said the content wasn’t limited by censorship.
“It was agreed upon that efforts would be made from Beirut to be financially independent after this date. Because this had not been successful, Free Voice has decided to provide, from its own means, additional funds for a number of times under the agreement that additional funds would be actively sought for from Beirut, said a press statement by Free Voice.
“Sadly, Free Voice has to acknowledge that these have not been secured and Free Voice is now forced to terminate its support, in line with these agreements. Free Voice will continue to monitor the possibilities of a second life for this initiative and will support this if possible, the statement added.
Menassat’s editorial team posted a press release on the website on Tuesday night informing their readers that they are no longer responsible for what s being posted on the site. The statement was removed on Thursday.
“We, the editorial collective of Menassat, hereby declare that all content published from Aug. 28 onwards is no longer associated with the editorial team who have provided content for this site for almost two years now, they said, noting that the release does not reflect the views of Free Voice, Arab Images Foundation or anyone outside of the Menassat editorial collective.
“Menassat’s editorial staff received less than 24 hours notice of our impending closure by our sponsors. Our reporters were given no notice of this impending closure. For this, we are deeply sorry. We hope to work with you again soon, the statement read.
Samer Mohdad, the founder of the website, will now be managing the content, according to the statement. “It must be clear that as of January of 2009, the editorial team of Menassat has disassociated itself from Mr Mohdad, and indeed all of the content produced since December 2008 has had nothing to do with Mr Mohdad. This takeover is happening without the consent of the Menassat team, the statement continued.
Alexandra Sandels, who has worked for Menassat for nearly two years, found out about the closure on Monday from the interim manager in Beirut. “I would have expected a formal letter about the closure from the funders after working for Menassat for nearly two years under less than desirable employment conditions, but nevertheless with dedication, she told Daily News Egypt.
“I just wish we were told earlier this summer, like a month in advance, about the closure so that we editors and journalists would have had more time to look for other employment. I would think funders would know at least a month in advance if they the have the financial capacity to continue funding a project or not, Sandels added.
Emily Dische, another journalist working for Menassat, also expressed her disappointment at the closure especially since they were reportedly working on launching a new website with more articles and contributors. The new more accessible website would have taken Menassat’s mission to another level, but also offered stable working conditions for the staff, she explained.
“In that sense, I think we’ve learned our lesson both on regards to being reliant on a singular funding source, and in particular, on how to successfully manage – in an egalitarian spirit – an editorial collective. We still have a team, a network of contributors and the determination to fill the void left by Menassat’s closure, said Dische.
The team announced in the statement that they will be re-launching somewhere else under a different name soon.
