Al Raya
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Gulf company for printing and publishing |
| Editor | Sadiq Mohammad Al Amari |
| Editor-in-chief | Saleh Al Kawari |
| Founded | 10 December 1979 |
| Political alignment | pro-government |
| Language | Arabic |
| Headquarters | Doha |
| Circulation | 18,000 (2008) |
| Sister newspapers | Gulf Times |
| Website | Al Raya |
Al Raya (in Arabic الراية also known as Arrayah; The Banner in English) is an Arabic daily newspaper published in Doha, Qatar. It is semi-official newspaper of the country and is one of the five leading Qatari dailies. As for Arabic dailies published in the country Al Raya is among the three major newspapers along with Al Sharq and Al Watan.
Al Raya was launched by Gulf company for printing and publishing as a weekly newspaper on 10 December 1979. The company which was founded by Ali bin Jaber Al Thani also owns Gulf Times, an English language daily. Based in Doha,Al Raya is the second Arabic newspaper published in Qatar. On 27 January 1980 Al Raya was relaunched as a daily newspaper.
In 1996 a corpus was created which included 187 articles published in Al Raya. On 27 April 2012 the paper launched the mapping mangroves project.
In the early 1990s Al Raya had a circulation of 10,000 copies and was distributed in Saudi Arabia and Egypt in addition to its native Qatar. Until 1995 when the other Arabic daily, Al Watan, was launched the paper enjoyed higher levels of circulation, but then lost its one-third of circulation. In 2000 Al Raya was the second best selling newspaper in Qatar with a circulation of 18,000 copies. The estimated circulation of the paper in 2003 was 8,000 copies.Al Raya's circulation increased to 18,000 copies in 2008. The online version of the paper was the 47th most visited website for 2010 in the MENA region.
Although Al Raya is privately owned it is the semi-official newspaper of Qatar. Therefore, it has a pro-government stance. The major rival of the daily is another Arabic Qatari newspaper Al Sharq which has opposite political stance.
Al Raya mostly provides news about the receptions and activities of the ruling family, Al Thani, as well as about official events. In addition, the daily has large supplements on sports and business as well as a special supplement called He and She. The paper offered a weekly page on the environmental issues from 1999 to 2005.
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