Front page of Al Midan, December 11, 2011 (TMCT)

Al-Midan or Al-Maydan is an Arabic daily newspaper published in Khartoum, Sudan.

Political Affiliation: Sudanese Communist Party (SCP)

Website: Arabic / English

Established: 1954

Circulation: 1,000-10,000 (2012)

Editor in Chiefs:

• Madiha Abdalla - 2011 to present
• Al Tijani Al Tayeb - TBC to November 2011

News

Al Midan:‘84 newspapers prevented from publishing this year’

Background

Al Midan is the organ of the CPS. It was established in 1954 as the official publication of the Anti-Imperialist Front. The paper was banned during General Abboud’s rule (1958-1964), resumed publication in 1964 but was banned again together with the CPS in 1965. It returned to print during the first two years of Numeiri’s rule and was banned in 1971 to return only in 1985. It was shutdown in 1989 with the advent of President Al Bashir’s regime. During these extended periods of censorship, the paper was clandestinely published and circulated among members of the CPS and its sympathizers. Al Midan resumed publication in 2007. It is largely read by followers of the CPS and a predominantly urban constituency. The paper agitates aggressively against the NCP regime and is regularly confiscated by the security authorities. Madiha Abdalla became the editor-in-chief of Al Midan following the death of its veteran editor, Al Tijani Al Tayeb, in November 2011. She had worked for Al Midan prior to the 1989 coup and then for Al Ayaam until she was picked by the CPS to succeed Tijani Al Tayeb.

Source: The Sudanese press after separation – Contested identities of journalism. MICT 2012, Page 34.

The Sudanese press after separation – Contested identities of journalism - MICT 2012