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About The Public Source

العربية:من نحن

The Public Source is a Beirut-based independent media organization dedicated to uncompromising journalism and critical commentary from the left. We write deeply and critically on vital issues from local perspectives, in the service of public interest and in solidarity with Global South publics

المكب مقفل

About Our Work

The Public Source is an experiment in dreaming up new ways of seeing, in the spirit of transformative politics and in resistance to the prevailing sense of powerlessness. As a quartely publication, we invite workers, organizers, journalists, activists and agitators, students and intellectuals, theorists and academics, artists and researchers to share ideas, collective experiences, and analyses. 

Editorials express where we stand on the urgent questions of the day. 

The (Dis)order Report features in-depth accountability reporting on the crises of the day. 

Chronicles of the Crisis is our in-depth investigative series on the material effects of hegemonic systems and structures in Lebanon. We dig into the processes of enrichment for the few and dispossession of the majority, infrastructural collapse and environmental devastation, de-funded healthcare and education, privatization of the coast and public domain, and politics and economies of humanitarianism and migration, among other issues.

The Long Read is where we slow down, because the urgency of the moment demands it. Essays, long-form analysis, and reviews reflect on the many crises of capitalism and revive lost histories of struggle.

PS Visuals are experiments with image-led storytelling, from immersive narrative photo essays to thematic snapshots that convey the spirit of the day.

الملحق features Arabic-language articles. 

Comictern is a platform for politically-charged fictional and non-fictional comics, dedicated to the love of the comic medium and the creation of an accessible space for struggling comic creators. Our comics embrace personal anecdotes, journalistic reports and investigations, and fantastical tales, tethered by critical issues and local experiences.

Dispatches from the October Revolution, inspired by the events unfolding since October 17, 2019, provide political commentary about this critical historical moment and insider observations into the multi-front struggle against the governing political-economic order.

The Public Source promotes and supports a culture of whistleblowing to expose abuses of power and to contribute to processes of accountability. On Sarreb, a whistleblowing platform hosting secure and anonymous communication channels, sources motivated to help us further this mission can share information and documents worthy of public exposure.

Our Structure

The Public Source is founded on principles of non-hierarchy, voluntary and temporary association, and mutual aid. Our organizational structure is core to our vision of setting a model for local and independent accountability journalism.

Our Editorial Line 

Loyal only to its editorial independence, The Public Source exists on the margins of the Lebanese mediascape dominated by the political agendas of ruling parties through relations of patronage. 

We strive to forge bonds with the communities whose struggles we report on, and work diligently to earn and maintain the trust of our story subjects, sources, and readers. Because of this positionality, we distance ourselves from a journalism that presents itself as neutral or balanced, and aim to disrupt power structures that benefit from the creed of objectivity.

Masthead

Lara Bitar — Editor in Chief
Mansour Aziz — Art Director
Sintia Issa — Editor at Large
Christina Cavalcanti — Editorial Fellow
Annia Ciezadlo — Investigations Editor
Layla Yammine — Journalist
Fatima Fouad el-Samman — Researcher & Writer
Dana Hourany — Journalist

Our Funders & Supporters

The Public Source is supported by International Media Support, Medico International, Meedan's Check Global program, and The Ground Truth Project's Report for the World program. 

Help us build a sustainable organization and continue our work by donating directly to us. Sustained contributions allow us to maintain our editorial independence and keep our platform ad-free.

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Independent media in Lebanon cannot sustain itself without your support. We rely on readers like you to produce indispensable local journalism, please donate today!