El Watan

El Watan (Arabic:الوطن, meaning the Homeland) is an independent French-language newspaper in Algeria.

History and profile

The paper was founded in 1990 after Omar Belhouchet and nineteen colleagues left the FLN government-owned newspaper El Moudjahid (English: "The Holy Warrior").

It aims to promote democracy and to give coverage to the Algerian opposition, and has acted as an outspoken voice against censorship and corruption. It has been suspended several times by the Algerian government, and journalists and editors jailed for various offenses. Its reporters have, according to the international press watchdogs Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) been targeted by both government forces and Islamist insurgents.

In July 2007 the paper started the first weekend edition in Algeria. Subsequently the newspaper started economic, real estate, and television supplements, with the goal of having one supplement per day. In 2008 El Watan launched a trilingual Arabic, English, and French website. Fayçal Métaoui, an El Watan journalist, said that the paper created the website because its most significant competition originated from Arabic-language and English-language news sites.