Ahram, Al-

▪ Egyptian newspaper

Egyptian“The Pyramids”

      daily newspaper published in Cairo, long regarded as Egypt's most authoritative and influential newspaper and as one of the most important papers in the Arab world.

      It was founded in 1875 by two Lebanese-Christian brothers, Salīm and Bishārah Taqlā. As a daily from 1881, the paper became famous for its independence and objectivity, despite British censorship and control, and for its coverage of international news and nonpolitical news about Egypt and Egyptians. Its influence waned, however, after censorship tightened as Egyptian independence neared.

      In the late 1950s Al-Ahram came under the influence of the Egyptian government, and President Gamal Abdel Nasser (Nasser, Gamal Abdel) made his friend Muhammad Hassanein Heikal (Heikal, Muhammad Hassanein) its editor. In 1960 Nasser nationalized the press, and Al-Ahram became the de facto voice of the government. Heikal's influence on the paper was profound. He was an eloquent editorialist and a solid journalist, and he built the paper's prestige, its journalistic excellence, and its makeup and technical operation to new levels. The paper had become the dominant daily in the Arab world. Heikal was removed as editor in 1974 when he lost the confidence of President Anwar el-Sādāt (Sādāt, Anwar el-), but the qualities he had built into Al-Ahram have remained. Al-Ahram's circulation averaged about one million copies per day at the turn of the 21st century, and it was widely considered Egypt's leading newspaper.

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