Al-Balad (newspaper)
Al-Balad (Arabic: البلد) meaning The country, officially Sada Al-Balad (Arabic: صدى البلد) meaning The echo of the country) is an Arabic-language daily newspaper in Lebanon. Its headquarters is in Beirut. It is a tabloid commercial paper.
History
Al Balad was first published on 15 December 2003 and the owner is Al Waseet International. The publisher of the daily is Al Wataniya publishing house. The first editor-in-chief is Béchara Charbel. The paper had a liberal stance.
In 2010, Al Balad also began publishing a French language edition. In addition to conventional sections, the paper has a lifestyle section and expanded sports and world affairs sections.
Circulation
In 2006, a study carried out by Ara'a Company with 2500 participants concluded that Al Balad was read by 18.3% of Lebanese over 15 years of age, being the first in this regard. In the same study it was also found that the paper was the second most popular paper in Lebanon after An Nahar. The Ipsos study in 2006 revealed that Al-Balad had the largest rate of subscribers with 23.8% whereas An Nahar had only 2.6%. The paper was also found to have highest circulation in Lebanon in 2006. A 2009 survey by Ipsos Stat also established that the daily was among the five most popular newspapers in Beirut.
