Al-Hudood (The Limits) is an Arabic newspaper launched in 2013 by a group of young people in Jordan. The paper “uses satire to reveal serious and often dark realities about the world we live in” (Stuart, 2016), and can often be referred to as the middle-eastern equivalent of the Onion (Stuart, 2016; Shaheen, 2018).
Its content is available online through their website and social media accounts (with their Facebook page growing in popularity), or by subscribing to their printing service and have a hard-copy delivered to your doorstep -for free (Al-Hudood, n.d.).
Stuart (2016) himself refers to Al-Hudood as an “independent media outlet”, and the fact that it is registered as a non-profit organisation supports that idea (Forde, 2011). They also have a section called “voices from the streets” which features public opinions on different topics, or as Forde (2011) puts it: alternative perspectives.
Al-Hudood’s financial support comes from donations, subscriptions, and NGO’s (that are mostly European),with advertising being completely off the table. According to what founder Isam Uraiqat told MEE, “No one can think of advertising with us. It’s too dangerous,” (Stuart, 2016).
Being owned by a group of young Jordanians proves that there is no large media corporation involved. Moreover, Al-Hudood goes against corporate control by simply critiquing it through satire. All of this definitely matches a good number of Dunifer’s (2010) characteristics of “free media”.
Reference List
Al-Hudood. (n.d.). Al-Hudood [Website]. Retrieved from https://alhudood.net/
Stuart, H. (2016, August 3). Jordanian website turns to satire to combat heavy news. Middle East Eye [Website]. Retrieved from https://www.middleeasteye.net/features/jordanian-website-turns-satire-combat-heavy-news
Shaheen, K. (2018, February 9). Al-Hudood: the Onion-style website poking fun at the Middle East. The Guardian [Website]. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/09/al-hudood-onion-style-website-poking-fun-middle-east-isam-uraiqat
Forde, S. (2011). Challenging the News: The Journalism of Alternative and Community Media. Palgrave.
Dunifer, S. (2010). Latitudes of Rebellion: Free Radio in an International Context. In A. Langlois, R. Sakolsky, & M. V. D. Zon, (Eds.), Islands of Resistance: Pirate Radio in Canada. (pp. 23-32). New Star Books.
Mira's Trail of Thoughts 