New interactive feature tells story of Lebanon’s collapse through Whatsapp messages
As the second anniversary of the Beirut explosion approaches, WhatsApp, Lebanon? tells the story of life over the past three years as five young people in Lebanon WhatsApped it.
This bilingual (English and Arabic) illustrated, interactive timeline from The New Humanitarian – the only non-profit newsroom dedicated to coverage of humanitarian crises around the globe – uses real WhatsApp messages and a playlist to demonstrate what happens when journalists ask people to tell their own stories. WhatsApp, Lebanon? is their story, and it’s Lebanon’s, too.
The story is available to view now on The New Humanitarian website. Assets from this feature are available on request to newsrooms that would like to share this unique, timely, and youth-focused project with their audiences.
The New Humanitarian Middle East Editor Annie Slemrod, project coordinator Zainab Chamoun, and illustrator Rafik El Hariri are available for interviews to talk about the 4 August 2020 Lebanon blast anniversary or this innovative project – including why they focused on the humans behind the headlines; the risk of traumatising people by asking them to review years of WhatsApp messages; and how traditional relationships between journalists and sources came into question.
We also encourage our friends in the media to link to our story in newsletters and coverage of Lebanon, including reporting around the anniversary of the 4 August Beirut blast.
Humans behind the headlines
Lebanon only occasionally hits the headlines, at moments like the mass protests at the start of the collapse in 2019 – which were spurred in part by a proposed tax on WhatsApp use; the port explosion; or when the currency hits a new low. This has thrust nearly 80 percent of the population into poverty, and has impacted almost every aspect of daily life.
“It was important to me that with this timeline, we not only showed those sorts of major incidents, but also what people were talking about, and feeling, as they happened,” said The New Humanitarian Middle East Editor Annie Slemrod. “The project shows that a country like Lebanon’s fall isn’t just about “newsworthy” events, it’s actually an accumulation of multiple small-seeming, intimate moments – like waiting in an endless queue at the bank only to find there is no money, or trying to do your job without electricity.”
Slemrod collaborated with Lebanese journalist Zainab Chamoun to report and produce WhatsApp, Lebanon?
The New Humanitarian also collaborated with renowned Lebanese artist Rafik El Hariri on illustrations. He has worked with the likes of VICE News, PLASTIK, and Médecins Sans Frontières, and been featured on Vogue Arabia, GQ Middle East, and Al Jazeera.
“The reason why I was so excited about taking on the project, because it really embodies the daily struggles of an individual living in Lebanon, be it Lebanese or otherwise,” said El Hariri. “Ever since the thawra [protests that began in Lebanon in late-2019], the pandemic and onto the economical crisis, I have tried my best with full transparency and respect to visually depict what it's like to live in a beautiful country that is packed with struggles on so many aspects. I hope this will shed the right light on my beautiful country, and keep the conversation going.”
For all enquiries please contact: [email protected]
WhatsApp, Lebanon? is the latest in-depth multimedia piece by The New Humanitarian that pursues our mission to decolonise journalism by asking individuals most affected by crises to own the narrative and share their stories, in their words. Previous works include the award-winning How coronavirus hit Aden: A Yemeni doctor’s diary and the award-longlisted “I am a leader of my house” about women leaders in Bangladesh’s Rohingya refugee camps.
The New Humanitarian is an independent, non-profit newsroom reporting from the heart of conflict, disasters and other crises.
As the trusted news source on humanitarian crises, we deliver the authentic, inside story. Our reporting gives insight to policymakers, practitioners and others who want to make the world more humane.