Hespress

Hespress
Available inArabic, English, French
Country of originMorocco
Founder(s)Hassan Guennouni, Amine Guennouni
Employees37
URLwww.hespress.com
LaunchedFebruary 2007

Hespress (Arabic: هسبريس) is a Moroccan online news website, founded in February 2007. The website has translations available in Arabic, English, and French. It is one of the most visited Moroccan news websites.[1]

History

Hespress was founded by Hassan Guennouni and his brother Amine, a computer scientist, in February 2004.[1] In the beginning, the two remained anonymous; Hassan initially wrote under the pseudonym Taha Hamdouchi.[2] According to the co-founder, the name "Hespress" derives from the mythical Land of the Hesperides, sometimes said to be located in modern Morocco, and the English word "press."[3] The website initially positioned itself as an alternative to traditional media, with articles written by bloggers around the world.[2]

In 2008, Hespress gained popularity when it hosted videos from Mounir Agueznay, a young activist who exposed corruption within police and security officers.[2] The arrest of regular contributor Mohamed Erraji for a column critical of the Moroccan monarchy, which was reported on Al Jazeera, also contributed to an increase in visits to the website.[1]

Hespress Magazine, a weekly print magazine, was announced in November 2012, with the first issue published in January 2013.[4][5] The magazine was headquartered in Casablanca, and Fouad Madani served as its editor.[5][6] The magazine focused on long-form content and reporting not suited for the web, with a new editorial team independent of that of the website. However, the magazine proved unprofitable, with the investment costing MAD 20 million.[1] The magazine ceased publication in July 2013, with 29 issues having been published in total.[7]

Subsequently, the Guennouni brothers launched Hesport, a portal for sports news in Morocco. As of 2015, Hesport is the 19th-most visited website in the country, ranking third among the country's sports news websites.[1]

On 26 September 2023, Hespress was awarded for the best news platform in the Arab world, at the 21st Arab Media Forum (AMF) in Dubai.[8][9][10]

Business model

Hespress derives its revenues from advertising. The website initially relied on Google AdSense for advertising revenue, but later shifted its focus to selling advertisement space directly to Moroccan agencies. It structured as a company and started recruiting professional journalists in 2009, with editorial staff located in Rabat. According to Guennouni, the company generated a turnover of up to MAD 150,000 a month in 2012.[2] The company became profitable in 2011. In 2015, the website started to publish sponsored advertorials.[1]

As of 2015, the website has 37 staff members, with three dedicated to managing its Facebook page. Over 35% of its readership uses Hespress's smartphone and tablet apps, while 30% of visits originate from its Facebook page.[1]

Reception

In 2012, Forbes Middle East ranked Hespress third on its list of the most powerful news websites in the Arab world.[11][12] In January 2015, Hespress became the third most visited website in Morocco after Google and Facebook, surpassing YouTube.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Roudaby, Youssef (12 March 2015). "Comment Hespress s'est hissé au sommet". TelQuel (in French). Archived from the original on 11 December 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d Radi, Omar (22 April 2012). "Web. La saga des frères Guennouni, fondateurs du site d'information Hespress". TelQuel (in French). Archived from the original on 11 December 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  3. ^ Rudi, Souad (9 June 2009). "هسبريس.. حكاية موقع إلكتروني مثير للجدل". مغرس (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 23 October 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  4. ^ "Hespress to Launch a Weekly Magazine in January". Morocco World News. 22 November 2012. Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  5. ^ a b "هسبريس تطلق مجلتها الورقية الأسبوعية". Hespress (in Arabic). 22 November 2012. Archived from the original on 2 April 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  6. ^ "» فؤاد مدني: العدد الصفر لـ"مجلة هسبريس" سيقصد المطبعة قريبا". Maroc Press (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  7. ^ Shahban, Muhammad Moaz (18 July 2013). "هسبريس توقف إصدار مجلتها الورقية". Morocco World News (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 19 September 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  8. ^ "AMF: Hespress named best news platform in the Arab world". HESPRESS English - Morocco News. 26 September 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  9. ^ Newsroom, B. N. N. (27 September 2023). "Hespress Bags the Digital Media Award at the 21st Arab Media Forum". BNN Breaking. Retrieved 27 September 2023. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  10. ^ "Asharq Al-Awsat Receives 3 Awards at Arab Media Forum in Dubai". english.aawsat.com. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  11. ^ "هسبريس". Forbes Middle East (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  12. ^ "موقع "هسبريس" الإخباري ثالث أفضل موقع إخباري في العالم العربي (دراسة) | بوابة منارة". Menara (in Arabic). 26 December 2012. Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2020.