Al Akhbar

Created in 2012, Al Akhbar has asserted its place as the country’s most distributed Arabic-language daily newspaper in 2016, with a daily sales averaging 45 240. It was the brainchild of controversial journalist Rachid Niny, who founded it on his own after leaving Al Massae, a daily he had founded six years prior to his leaving. It is published by Awal Media, a company that solely publishes this one paper.

Founder Rachid Niny is also Director of publishing and General Director of the paper. As a columnist in his previous venture Al Massae, he managed to build an important and loyal readership. By translating the column, named ‘Chouf Tchouf’, in this newly created outlet, in 2012, he secured in the first year of the daily’s existence, average monthly sales of 62 224 copies.

Niny is often accused of populism by his peers as well as a certain category of Moroccans. He fights back these claims by asserting his only aim is to bring up issues of social justice and speaking for those who cannot do so on a public platform. His name is often associated with famous court cases, and while sitting as editor of Al Akhbar, was ordered to pay a heavy fine in 2015 in a libel case brought by the minister of equipment and transport over two articles accusing a private company of using substandard material in the construction of a section of motorway.