The lockdown in Lebanon has been extended for a fourth time, till May 24. Easing measures are seeing those who can slowly reopen businesses and try to get back to work. But protests have also sprung anew. The reality is for many, there was no work before the lockdown began, and there will be none even when it is fully lifted.
Meanwhile, the lira is in freefall, decimating the purchasing power of many Lebanese as prices in the supermarkets continue to rise at alarming rates. One confrontation between a protester and an army officer, widely shared online, saw the officer respond to the protester’s shout of being hungry with “I’m hungrier than you.” Human Rights Watch warned earlier in April that millions of Lebanese were at risk of going hungry due to lockdown measures.
Now, more than ever, is the time for rigorous, honest, and investigative journalism.
When it became clear that the country would be going into lockdown to try and prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Executive’s team made a collective decision to reorganize our workflow. Rather than produce content for a monthly magazine format, we shifted to a online-first approach. This did not mean a decrease in our output, on the contrary, our team has been working hard throughout these difficult circumstances to provide detailed analysis on three special report focuses: Lebanon’s food security, the impact of the coronavirus, and lessons to be learned from Lebanon’s insurance industry.
We recently took the decision to collate all our work over these past two months into a PDF-format magazine that our readers can enjoy as they would our usual magazine. This can now be accessed here, or downloaded directly here.
We hope that you will enjoy seeing our content in its usual format. Of course, all the articles and analyses within remain available to read online, and will be shared on our Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram pages.
Moving forward, it is our hope to return to printing our magazine for the June edition, though Executive, as with all media outlets in the country, and indeed the globe, is not immune to the financial pressures and lockdown measures that the coronavirus has brought in its wake. We shall be taking things step by step, to ensure that the safety of our staff continues to be a top priority.
To our readers, we thank you for continuing to trust us and follow our work, this past month has seen a double digit percentage growth in the number of sessions and page views on our website. You have given us amazing encouragement and we promise to continue our efforts to provide clear, accurate, and independent information on which you can form your opinions in these trying and stressful times.
As always, stay safe.
— Executive Editors
