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On Friday 25 August, Talal Salman, the founder and publisher of the iconic Lebanese daily newspaper "As-Safir" passed away aged 85.

Salman remains one of the Arab world's most prominent journalists and As-Safir, rightly, as a shining beacon of Arab journalism in its modern history

He was one of the few Arab journalists who always aspired for journalism to be a medium where opinions could be freely expressed, and made it a place in which he affirmed his commitment to national, nationalist and social issues.

When his dream of establishing an independent newspaper became reality in 1974, he succeeded in making it a genuine platform for Arab issues and the Palestinian cause, and it quickly became one of the largest Arabic-language independent newspapers.Ìý

"Salman remains one of the Arab world's most prominent journalists and As-Safir, rightly, as a shining beacon of Arab journalism in its modern history"

"As-Safir" became an important laboratory for ideas and opinions. Over more than 40 years, intellectual and political debates flared within its pages, and it became a forum where various intellectual and cultural experiences from the Arab world and Lebanon converged. This made it a rare experiment in Arab journalism, a place where Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian, Egyptian, Iraqi, Jordanian, and Tunisian voices at various times would come together.

Talal Salman was born in 1938 in the northeastern town ofÌýShmustar. His father was a sergeant in Lebanon's Internal Security Force (ISF), a job which required him to move with his family to various regions in Lebanon for various postings. Due to this, Salman never settled in one place or attended a fixed school. Perhaps this forced mobility played a role in shaping his political outlook later on, as it allowed him to discover different regions of Lebanon and to develop a broad understanding of Lebanon's people - their internal divisions and rural nature.

His political awareness began to emerge following Egypt's 23 July Revolution of 1952, which played a huge role in alerting his attention to politics. Additionally, his presence in the town of Moukhtara in the Chouf district in the early 1950s exposed him to certain aspects of the Lebanese reality.

Moukhtara was the stronghold of the prestigious Jumblatt family, leading figures in Lebanon's Druze community. While living there he got to know Kamal Jumblatt, who inspired an entire generation of Lebanese youth who aspired for social justice and sought to connect Lebanon with Arab causes, Arab identity, and Palestine.

Salman would become an Arab nationalist without affiliating with any of the nationalist parties, such as the Ba'ath, although later on, he formed close relationships with founders of Arab Nationalist Movement, like George Habash and Hani al-Hindi, in addition to Ghassan Kanafani and Mohsin Ibrahim, who were closely associated with the pan-Arab, left-wing movement.

Salman's passion for language began in his childhood; he was enchanted by the few books in his parent's home, and had started writing articles for the magazine al-Anbaa before leaving school. After completing secondary school in 1955, he moved to Beirut with today's equivalent of $200 from his father and started looking for work at a newspaper.

Passion for language

Salman's passion for language began in his childhood; he was enchanted by the few books in his parent's home, and had started writing articles for the magazine al-Anbaa before leaving school. After completing secondary school in 1955, he moved to Beirut with today's equivalent of $200 from his father and started looking for work at a newspaper.

"Salman would become an Arab nationalist without affiliating with any of the nationalist parties, such as the Ba'ath, although later on, he formed close relationships with founders of Arab Nationalist Movement, like George Habash and Hani al-Hindi"

He initially found a job at Al Sharq newspaper as an unpaid proof reader, before swiftly transitioning to "cutting" – he would cut out stories from other papers in the morning and rewrite them for publishing in Al Sharq in the afternoon.

1956, the year Salman’s journey into the media world began was the year of the Tripartite Aggression against Egypt (the Suez Crisis) – and it was as though this major event was setting the tone for a journalistic career focused on the major Arab issues of the day, such as Arab unity, Palestine, Algeria and social justice.

Nor was it surprising, considering his background living in areas suffering from marginalization, poverty, injustice, and lack of government care, that he developed a clear sensitivity to social injustice and a strong awareness of the need to fight against it.

A meeting of minds

It wasn't long before Salman moved to another paper, where he was given the crime and accidents beat. Every day he would walk to the police station, the courts, ambulance centres and fire stations to gather the day's news. Then, he would walk back to his workplace to provide the summary of his day to the editorial secretary.

In 1958, after protests broke out against the rule of then President Camille Chamoun, renowned journalist Salim Lawzi, editor-in-chief of the pro-Nasser Al Hawadeth magazine at the time, was arrested, and held in Karantina Hospital - as more fortunate prisoners were at that time.

By chance, Salman's father was chief officer at the hospital guard station, and his son visited regularly. This led to the aspiring young man meeting the veteran journalist who had worked in Palestine and Egypt before returning to Lebanon to set up the weekly magazine.

Following their meeting, Salman joined Al Hawadeth, where he was suddenly the colleague of well-known journalists like , Nabil Khoury, and the artist ÌýHe went from proofreading to preparing the readers section, to writing his own column and then moved into the investigations department.ÌýIt was not long before he was made sub-editor and he wasn't even 20 - a testimony to both his journalistic talent and his hard work developing the magazine during a period Lawzi was forced into exile.

However, perhaps the most significant event in his professional and personal life was his meeting with President Gamal Abdel Nasser in Damascus in early 1958.ÌýHis image alongside Nasser remained on proud display in the As-Safir offices for many years afterwards.