About Nawaat
Created in 2004 as a collective blog, Nawaat is the pioneer of alternative journalism in Tunisia and the region and provides Tunisia-centered news and analysis. As a multi-award-winning online media and print magazine, Nawaat established itself as trusted provider of coverage specialized in topical news, particularly focusing on democracy, transparency, accountability, justice, civil liberties and rights. With a healthy and qualitative video production, our media is distinguished by its audacity, its independence, its innovation and its alternative accounts of Tunisia’s current affairs. In recent years, Nawaat has begun producing high-quality video productions unmatched by most other independent media actors in Tunisia or the region. In January 2020 Nawaat lunched its quarterly Print Magazine, and, in mid 2020, Nawaat has increased its efforts to further develop its multimedia platform through collaborations with artists, multimedia technicians, designers and journalists, particularly through its Innawaation media incubation program. And starting from April 2021, Nawaat launched its yearly 3-days festival to showcase its media production work to the general public. Nawaat has been covering social movements, marginalized voices, challenges to freedom of expression, and fights for human rights since its initial founding under the repressive Ben Ali dictatorship in 2004. Using creative concepts, Nawaat is the leading independent media in Tunisia with an extensive track record in creating alternative media narratives related to social movements, environmental preservation, and human rights and has a proven track record of mobilizing the right partners and communities for creative storytelling and amplifying voices around pressing social, political, economic, cultural and environmental issues. Operating above the harmful interactions between business, politics, and dominant media in Tunisia. Nawaat provides trilingual (Arabic, French, and English) coverage and commentary necessary for an informed Tunisian public. This fact-based, informed media is particularly essential in a politically polarized media environment largely controlled by business lobbies, and where public media is grossly under-resourced and not widely read. Furthermore, Nawaat has spent over a decade supporting other independent journalism initiatives in Tunisia and the region. In these ways, Nawaat supports freedom of expression in Tunisia and works to increase public knowledge and understanding of civic engagement issues.
Mission Statement
Provide free, independent and alternative journalism of public interest to counter the dominant narrative and to defend rights and freedoms.
Explanation of Nawaat’s mission
Being independent of political or economic interference and free from political dominance, social dictation, religious norms and cultural conditioning, Nawaat provides in-depth journalism drawing on a multitude of sources and a variety of references, favoring field work and proximity.
Our public interest journalism (please read our Editorial Charter) aims to counter the dominant narrative and to serve undeserved, underprivileged and marginalized communities by covering topics that are rarely covered by mainstream media.
Ethical Principles
1. Independence
2. Accuracy
3. Freedom & rights
4. Accountability
