Wednesday, July 31, 2024

The Guardian - with echoes of Annahar

Sometime, in the mid-90s a billionaire tycoon wanted to take over the Annahar newspaper (no names hehe). Having caught wind of that, the Annahar management spearheaded by the late Ghassan Tueni, launched an ad inside the paper that went:

الجريدة التي لا يمولها القارئ يمولها المجهول

The newspaper which is not funded by the reader is funded by the unknown.

And guess which newspaper has had a major funding from readers in a drive which has not been equaled so far? The Guardian! Actually, they have a new campaign that literally says "Not for sale" and the second screen goes "we're funded by readers not billionaires". Whereas Annahar was omnious and threatening, The Guardian goes with a much lighter tone and colors - but with the same idea at base.

Pity at the time cameras were not rampant for me to record the Annahar ad, but trust me on my memory people!