(Jan. 21, 2011) THE Tunisian revolution is another reminder of the power of viral media. But it also underlines the fact that not all information is created equal. As they did during Iran’s much-hyped “Twitter Revolution,” news organizations and bloggers have been channeling a torrent of cellphone videos, tweets and blog posts from Tunisia. Indeed, [...]
Al-Jazeera English: Day One Report Card (Der Speigel)
December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Published on Thursday, November 16, 2006 by Der Speigel Call it the Un-CNN. Imagine that the BBC devotes 24 hours to special coverage of Africa and the Middle East and you will get a sense of the first day of broadcasting for al-Jazeera English (AJE), the English-language cousin of the channel the Bush administration loves [...]
Beyond Media ‘Dialogues’: Time to put away the champagne flutes (Arab Media & Society)
December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Issue 3, Fall 2007 October, 2007. “It’s the condescending attitude that I get tired of,” a top editor at one of the leading Arab satellite news channels recently told me. “I know they mean well; but it’s the whole tone.” We were on our way to the airport after the latest in the seemingly endless [...]
Arab Media in the Vortext (Journal of Transnational Broadcasting Studies)
December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
(Winter 2005) “Anyone who tells you they are not scared silly is lying,” retired Annahar publisher Ghassan Tueni, the living symbol of Lebanese media independence, said in mid-autumn as we sat in his office overlooking Beirut’s port and newly reborn downtown. “We built this glass tower as a symbol of the new Lebanon. Now it [...]
Satellite TV News and Arab Democracy (Journalism Practice)
December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Vol. 2 No. 1 Feb. 2008 – The red and white banners of Lebanon’s anti-Syrian protests in the spring of 2005 were a testament to the transformational power of the Arab media revolution. Without al-Jazeera and the new constellation of Arab satellite broadcasters, it is unlikely there would ever have been a “Cedar Revolution,” as [...]
Open Season on Journalists in the Middle East (CJR.org)
December 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The pen may be “mightier than the sword,” but in recent years, the sword has left a trail of spilled ink – and blood. It is time for an international law banning targeted attacks on the media. (Aug. 1, 2006) After the carnage of this past weekend in the Middle East, two previous incidents seemed [...]
Insurgent TV Coming to a Satellite Near You? (CJR.org)
December 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment
(Jan. 10, 2007) A controversial TV channel that is the voice of Iraq’s anti-American insurgents looks set to open another front in the propaganda war against the U.S. The head of Al-Zawraa, which airs footage produced by the Islamic Army of Iraq, says he has finalized a deal for the channel to be distributed on [...]
