Huffington Post to launch Arabic-language edition

AOL-owned company partners with former al-Jazeera director general for project targeting young people with mobile devices
Arianna Huffington
Arianna Huffington says the company has long had ambitions for an Arabic-language edition. Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian

The Huffington Post has entered a partnership with a former director general of al-Jazeera Network to launch an Arabic-language edition aimed at the growing number of young people in the Middle East with mobile devices.

The AOL-owned company will launch HuffPost Arabi after teaming up with Wadah Khanfar, who is currently chief executive of Integral Media Strategies.

Huffington Post claims the online news service will be the first of its kind in the Arab world, with its combination of “original reporting” by “independent journalists” and a blog platform for those across the region to air their thoughts, opinions and commentary.

However, the editorial team for the venture, expected to launch early next year, will be based in London.

The new site will be built on Huffington Post’s news platform. Integral Media Strategies’ journalists will provide editorial content from across the Arab world.

The launch is the latest move in its strategy to make the Huffington Post a truly international news service. This has seen it launch local language services in Brazil, South Korea and Germany. There will also be an Indian edition, which has been delayed from the original planned launch in May, but is thought to be still going ahead.

Arianna Huffington, president and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, said: “Bringing HuffPost to the Arab world has been a dream for us since we launched our first international edition a little more than three years ago.”

She added: “There’s such a great need, not only in the region, but all over the world, to bring more Arab voices into the conversation and deepen the world’s understanding of life in the Arab world, from its problems to its accomplishments to its untapped potential.”

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