In late February 2011, once eastern Libya was liberated from the Gaddafi regime, Libyan press started in a new form; dozens of publications and newspapers of varied performance levels and content were released. Most of them shared the content of the nascent Libyan revolution discourse.
In late February 2011, once eastern Libya was liberated from the Gaddafi regime, Libyan press started in a new form; dozens of publications and newspapers of varied performance levels and content were released. Most of them shared the content of the nascent Libyan revolution discourse.
Rida Tayeb, twenty-odd-years old, was part of a team of young men who wanted to issue a private newspaper during the revolution, a decision, he said, that came as a means to convey the voice of the Libyan revolution, after cutting Internet lines and the predominance of media personalities like ‘Yusuf Shakir’ and ‘Hala Misrati’— journalists considered to be mouthpieces for Gaddafi.
Rida and most young people who issued newspapers in that period had not studied or practiced journalism before, which made their job even more difficult.
Despite a lack of resources, however, they managed to get small funds that were enough to temporarily issue a small newspaper entitled ‘Descendants of Mukhtar’ in the form of a leaflet.
With the help of some journalists, the leaflet eventually developed into ‘Qorini’ newspaper, (not to be confused with a newspaper of the same name and issued in Benghazi among the newspapers of the ‘Ghad’ Company of Saif Gaddafi before it dissented later and jointed the revolution newspapers under the name of ‘New Qorina’).
On the road side
“We tried”, says Rida, “to monitor and cover some events of the revolution. I still remember the events of Brega Front (240 km west of Benghazi) and war conditions and trouble that sometimes forced us to stay for hours on the road waiting for a ride. Only then did we learn why journalism was called the profession of trouble.”
At that time, with accumulated newspapers and absent state-owned presses, owners of private presses decided to give priority to the most widespread newspapers, which meant that the issuance of the least-known and unfortunate newspapers had to be delayed for weeks, prompting some to print their newspapers in Egypt, like ‘Free Speech’ newspaper, which had been issued in Bayda.
Last penny on the last copy
After the fall of the former Libyan regime, Rida left journalistic work to attend university. He studies medicine at the University of Omar Mukhtar in Bayda – 200 kilometers east of Benghazi. The newspaper was not closed in September, 2011 due of his studies, rather because financial resources ran out. “I spent the last penny on the last copy”, he says.
What happened to ‘Qorina’ was not an exception. A study by journalist Hind Houni in May 2011 in Benghazi, revealed that among the 29 newspapers surveyed, 21 closed, having issued few issues; 15 of them for financial reasons or poor marketing, and the rest for technical reasons.
“Press after all is not my specialization, and volunteer work should eventually end,” Rida said. “But I am satisfied with what we have achieved; we have communicated our message.”
The heat of the moment
Aljazeera reporter Khaled Maheer, a journalist who lived through the era of a suppressed Libyan press, describes post-revolution journalism as ‘revolutionary’.
However, he welcomes its presence as “it accompanied the revolution from the outset, with very simple potentials; no more than a PC and a destroyed or burnt room next to the courthouse in Benghazi.”
Maheer suggests that the revolution press is a product of the heat of the moment. When situations stabilize, its mission will naturally end due to lack of funding. And apart from financial support, Maheer holds the Press Promotion and Support Board formed after the liberation of Libya accountable for failure of these experiences, because it supported “the remnant legacy of Gaddafi’s press foundation.”
Secret media
The situation in Tripoli, which remained under Gaddafi’s control until the 20th of August 2011, forced journalists and non-professionals who supported the revolution to work in an environment of secrecy and concealment.
Souq Jumaa area, which had witnessed stiff resistance since the revolution’s outbreak until the liberation of the capital, produced, for example, a number of daring journalistic experiments. Despite dangerous secret media work, these simple experiments were courageous during the most violent stages of the revolution.
The Capital Steadfastness
Coming from Souq Jumaa – the largest suburb of Tripoli – Asia bin Jaber, who practiced secret journalism along with her sister, Nadia, her brothers and some friends, recalls working conditions at the time.
Prior to issuing ‘The Capital Steadfastness’ newspaper, Asia says, an underground movement of the same name was established in March 2011. Since its founding, it started distributing leaflets and publications that exposed the Gaddafi battalions’ practices and published the names of the regime figures and their followers who were involved in crimes. “It was a bitter risky stage,” Asia added. With successive victories of rebels in most Libyan cities, “our rebellious friend, Fatima Qadrab, proposed to issue a newspaper.”
The idea was then offered to the Libyan writer and journalist, Asma Usta, who contributed to the newspaper with different articles. Two issues were released: the first on July 2011, of which around 1,600 copies were distributed, and the second and the final one was several days before the liberation of Tripoli on 08.20.2011. This newspaper, which Maheer described as ‘revolutionary’, stopped, having achieved its mission, and its staff returned to their normal lives and businesses.
Four hard decades of government-controlled press ended in favor of a new media that is trying, albeit still in vain, to create satisfying communication with the Libyan readers who aspire to a free and fair press that expresses them and be really the fourth power in free Libya.
