The Press and the Journalist as a Vehicle in Spreading National Ideas in Syria in the Late Ottoman Period

Abstract

In the period from the Young Turk Revolution in 1908 to the outbreak of World War I in 1914, several Arab societies, or branches of Arab societies, that became disseminators of national ideas, were established in Syria and the Lebanon. Some of them (such as al-Fatdt, with its headquarters in Paris) strove for the general Arab idea while other promoted the Syrian and Lebanese ideas (the Decentralization Party, with its headquarters in Cairo, and the Society of the Lebanese Revival). One of the most important mediums to popularize the ideas of these societies, in their various nuances, was the Arab press. The following list of newspapers includes the newspapers that appeared in Syria and in the Lebanon during the period of the Young Turks and explicitly supported the general Arab ideas or the particularist ideas-the Syrian and the Lebanese. The political identification of these newspapers was decided by two criteria: (a) the specific society supported by them; (b) participation of newspaper owners or editiorial staff in the societies. In Syria and the Lebanon at the beginning of the 20th century there were, of course, many other newspapers besides those listed here. Some of these unlisted ones were unqualifiedly pro-Ottoman (such as alBaldgh), or pro-Committee of Union and Progress (CUP)1 (al-Ra y al-CAmm and AbdbFl), while others had no clear political tendency and did not meet the two prescribed criteria.