Talal Salman: A Legacy in Lebanese Journalism and Al-Safir Newspaper

2023-08-26 14:21:54

Talal Salman is a Lebanese journalist and author, the owner, editor-in-chief and publisher of “Al-Safir” newspaper, from March 1974 until its last issue, on January 4, 2017.

Salman was born in the town of Shamstar (eastern Lebanon) in 1938. He began his professional career as an editor for Al-Nidhal newspaper, then worked as a journalist for Al-Sharq newspaper in late 1956. In 1957, he moved to Al-Hawadith magazine, where he worked as an editor and then as editor-in-chief. In 1960, he moved to “Al-Ahad” magazine and took over its editorial management.

In the fall of 1962, Salman traveled to Kuwait, where he published the magazine “Donia Al-Orouba” and assumed its editor-in-chief until 1963, when he returned to Beirut to take over the editorial management of “Al-Sayyad” magazine.

Between 1963 and 1973, Salman moved between a number of newspapers and magazines, and his fame became famous in a number of Arab countries after he interviewed a number of Arab kings, presidents and political leaders such as Gamal Abdel Nasser, Muammar Gaddafi, Hawari Bou Medine, Shazly bin Jadid, Ahmed bin Bella and Hafez al-Assad, in addition to Ahmed Hassan. Al-Bakr, Saddam Hussein, Salem Rabie Ali, Ali Nasser Muhammad, King Khalid bin Abdulaziz, King Fahd, and Emir of Kuwait Jaber Al-Ahmad and Khomeini.

Salman also had meetings and interviews with a wide range of Arab writers, writers and artists.

As-Safir newspaper

In the middle of 1973, Talal Salman dedicated himself to issuing the daily newspaper “As-Safir”, and chose for it its famous slogan at the time, “Lebanon’s newspaper in the Arab world, and the Arab nation’s newspaper in Lebanon”, to follow it with its other well-known slogan, “The Voice of the Voiceless”.

It is noteworthy that the reputation of “As-Safir” became unprecedented during its coverage of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, as it was published on a daily basis.

Many have lived with Salman and his professional experience, and they have opinions and positions from the same experience and from the person.

The death of Talal Salman, editor-in-chief of the Lebanese As-Safir newspaper

During his interview with colleague Layal Bishara on Radio Monte Carlo (listen above), Ali Al-Amin, editor-in-chief of the Lebanese “Janoubia” website, considered that Salman “marked an important stage in the life of the Lebanese press, and since the launch of ‘As-Safir’ he was able to represent a point of view Lebanese and Palestinian nationalism.

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Al-Amin talked about Salman’s coexistence with the most important historical stages of the region, and that he was able to “provide a vital intellectual and cultural field in his newspaper, as he was famous for including people who differed with him in opinion and politics in his work team, allowing them a space to express their opinions on the pages of his newspaper.”

In this, Al-Safir newspaper was able to turn into a live space for ideas and opinions, and a space in which intellectual and political debates and Arab intellectual experiences flared up, which reserved for it a distinguished position at the level of Arab journalistic experiences.

Also, it, meaning “the ambassador”, has carried the signatures of great names on the Arab media, cultural and political scene since its launch, such as Rifaat Al-Saeed, Abdel-Rahman Munif, Nahla Al-Shahal, Saadallah Wannous, Yassin Al-Hafez, Adonis, Naji Al-Ali, Mahmoud Darwish, Clovis Maqsoud and others. Its pages provided space for different intellectual trends, sometimes warring, such as Nasserism, Syrian nationalism, communism, and Arab nationalism, to exchange views, discussions, and controversy, in a scene that is rarely repeated today, according to observers.

With the departure of Talal Salman, many consider it the end of an Arab media era that began in Beirut, and will not be repeated in light of the reality experienced by the Lebanese and Arab media alike.

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