A new Arabic-language edition of the Huffington Post was announced by Arianna Huffington the chair, president, and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group.  The Huffington Post was launch by Ms. Huffington in early 2005 and in 2012 won a Pulitzer Prize for national reporting.

This latest venture follows editions published in 14 other countries, however it has a slightly different format.  Previous editions concentrated on news, views and topics of interest specific to a country. The Arabic version has been created to serve the Arabic nation comprised of 377 million people living in 22 countries, stretching from Mauritania in the northwest corner of Africa to Oman on the eastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula and the Arab diasporas everywhere from Brazil to Japan.

Ms Huffinton commented “So much coverage of the Arab World is from the outside looking in, and the voices of the people most affected by what’s happening are frequently unheard. Our original reporting by independent journalists will showcase the richness of the Arab world, political debates and business news, but also arts and cultures, religions and traditions, food and human stories. And on launch day, we’ll be featuring original videos on everything from getting and keeping a job to a highlights reel with the funniest ads shown during Ramadan.”

HuffPost Arabi intends to “relentlessly cover” all topics of interest inside the arabic world both good and bad. Huffington recognises that the Arab world often receives bad-press and has therefore introduce a focus section called “Huloul” (حلول), which means ‘Solutions’. This will be under the editorial control of the HuffPost Germany editor-in-chief Sebastian Matthes and will be a major part of their global “What’s Working” editorial.

Huffington Post has claimed that this will be the first in its kind of online reporting and blogging service in the Arab world.  They say that its ‘independent journalists’ and ‘independent reporting’ will provide a platform for people to air their opinions and thoughts.

Huffington does have a good reputation, we can hope that this will be viewed as a positive media addition and provide a much needed independent window into the Arab world.

Image courtesy of CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER – May 2012 Arianna Huffington at C2-MTL