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Lakome.com

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Lakome.com
Type of site
News website
Available inArabic, French
Founded2010
Dissolved2013
Successor(s)lakome2.com
HeadquartersCasablanca,
Country of originMorocco
Created byAli Anouzla
Aboubakr Jamaï
URLlakome.com
Launched22 September 2010; 14 years ago (2010-09-22) [1]
Current statusInactive
Content license
All rights reserved
Written inJoomla!

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

History and profile

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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

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  1. ^ lakome.com whois lookup
  2. ^ a b Andrew Heslop (7 July 2011). "The irresolvable dilemma of the newspaper publisher". World Association of Newspapers. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  3. ^ a b "Lakome news website still blocked despite editor's repeated requests". Reporters without Borders. 20 February 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  4. ^ a b "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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