Lakome.com

Lakome.com was an independent Moroccan news website. It was started in 2010 and banned in 2013.

Lakome.com
Type of site
News website
Available inArabic, French
Founded2010
Dissolved2013
Successor(s)lakome2.com
HeadquartersCasablanca,
Morocco
Country of originMorocco
Created byAli Anouzla
Aboubakr Jamaï
URLlakome.com
Launched22 September 2010 (2010-09-22) [1]
Current statusInactive
Content license
All rights reserved
Written inJoomla!

History and profile

Lakome.com was founded in December 2010 by Ali Anouzla, later joined by Aboubakr Jamaï. The site had articles in Arabic and in French.[2] Ali Anouzla was also the editor of the English edition of the website.[3] Aboubakr Jamaï was the editor of the French edition.[3]

A laureate of the Committee to Protect Journalists' International Press Freedom Award[4] and the World Association of Newspapers' Gebran Tueni Prize,[2] Jamaï had previously started two newspapers in Morocco, Le Journal Hebdomadaire and Assahifa al-Ousbouiya. His papers were banned by the government of Morocco on multiple occasions for their explorations of politically taboo topics, and Jamaï soon won an international reputation for independent reporting.[4][5] After a series of ruinous libel suits and alleged government pressure on advertisers, however, the papers went bankrupt, with Le Journal shut down by court order in 2010.[6]

When the Arab Spring-inspired 2011 protests broke out in Morocco, however, Jamaï began an web-based news service, Lakome.com. The site had a small staff and focuses on reporting political events throughout Morocco. By April 2011, it was the fourth-most-visited website in Morocco.[7]

On 17 October 2013, both the Arabic and French version of the site were closed down in Morocco. As of May 2014, the website remained blocked.[8][9]

References
  1. lakome.com whois lookup
  2. Andrew Heslop (7 July 2011). "The irresolvable dilemma of the newspaper publisher". World Association of Newspapers. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  3. "Lakome news website still blocked despite editor's repeated requests". Reporters without Borders. 20 February 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  4. "Morocco: Aboubakr Jamai". Committee to Protect Journalists. 2003. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  5. Jane Kramer (16 October 2006). "The Crusader". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  6. "Morocco: Pioneer of independent press silenced amid censorship worries". Los Angeles Times. 16 February 2010. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  7. Aida Alami (28 April 2011). "Web Offers a Voice to Journalists in Morocco". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  8. "Morocco: Human Rights Organizations Call for the Charges against Journalist "Ali Anouzla" to be Dropped, and "Lakome" Website to be Unblocked". All Africa. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  9. "Lakome news website still blocked despite editor's repeated requests". Reporters without Borders. 20 February 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
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