Between 1993 and 1998, “we were forced to play a role that went beyond that of informing our readers,” says Belhouchet. “Journalists and editors-in-chief became opinion leaders.”

Now El Watan needs to come back to “international standards, namely to inform our readership according to rules of credibility and objectivity.”

“Namely to be less "political" and to invest heavily in journalism, he says.” According to Belhouchet, this orientation toward ‘international standards’ is reflected by the significant share of surveys, reports and special supplements found in El Watan.

To widen its editorial offerings, El Watan launched three supplements in the past year, on the topics of business, real-estate and television. El Watan is also planning to launch a fouth supplement about sports.

While few ethical journalists would argue against the paper’s quest for objectivity, some editors might argue that newspapers must more than ever be political. Or that papers should increase the share of analytical and commentary pieces. This precludes neither objectivity nor good journalism.

On the other hand, as newspapers are faced with decreasing ad revenues, they must also diversify their content and include topics that sell better, such as sports or real estate. Perhaps this is the trend of journalism’s ‘international standards.’

Any thoughts?

Source: Arab Press Network