[FoME] Darfur, Arab Media Systems, US public diplomacy channels in the Middle East

[Christoph Dietz]

>>> "Lawrence Pintak" <lpintak at aucegypt.edu> 23.05.2007 >>>

Welcome to the second Arab Media & Society quarterly newsletter.

See below for our featured articles in which we look at US public diplomacy broadcasting in the Middle East and Arab media typologies. We also feature our first video, the aborted Al Arabiya documentary about Darfur 'Jihad on Horseback'. But there is much more than this. As always, we have interactive book reviews, interviews, and podcasts. 

Arab Media & Society is the successor to highly-regarded Transnational Broadcasting Studies.  We aim to be the primary reference for tracing developments in Arab media and understanding how these developments impact on societies in the Middle East.

You can always find us at www.arabmediasociety.com. 

Featured Articles

Darfur: Covering the - forgotten - story 	
http://www.arabmediasociety.com/?article=223
No issue in Arab journalism today is more controversial than how the region's media cover Darfur.  It is the hot-button issue in the Arab newsroom not because of the physical danger but because the issue bores right to the heart of the mission of Arab journalism, writes Publisher and Co-Editor Lawrence Pintak.

Jihad on Horseback: The Darfur Al Arabiya film that never made it on air
http://www.arabmediasociety.com/?article=207
Two years on, Nabil Kassem is still profoundly affected by his experiences in Sudan. What he witnessed there, and recorded in a film he made for Al Arabiya, were scenes of  untold suffering.  But 'Jihad on Horseback' never made it across the airwaves.  Listen to his highly charged interview with Lawrence Pintak.

Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa: Advancing freedom in the Arab World 
http://www.arabmediasociety.com/?article=185
Are the US Public Diplomacy channels Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa perceived as credible news sources in the Middle East capable of enabling greater political and social freedoms? Outgoing Broadcast Board of Governors Chairman Kenneth Y. Tomlinson argues they are.

Do National political systems still influence Arab media? 	
http://www.arabmediasociety.com/?article=225> 
Although recent changes in information technology have had an impact on Middle East media, existing national political systems are still a dominant variable affecting the structure and behavior of Arab media, argues Editorial Board Member William A. Rugh.

Sexual healing: Meet the Arab world's first Islamic tele-sexologist
http://www.arabmediasociety.com/?article=188
El Mehwar's Heba Kotb is not just any sexologist; she's the Arab world's first celebrity tele-sexologist, and a devout Muslim sexologist to boot.  So how does the Doctor of Sex reconcile her performance on satellite TV discussing sexual pleasure with her strictly Islamic principles? Anna Swank investigates.

Does the veiled  look sell? Egyptian advertisers grapple with the hijab
http://www.arabmediasociety.com/?article=205
It seems obvious that for an ad to be effective it must represent a prettier, cleaner, better version of reality and yet at the same time feel natural. So why is the hijab such a sensitive topic in Egyptian advertising? Contributing Editor Sharon Otterman investigates, and finds a puzzling mismatch between the hijab in TV ads and on the street.

Are Lebanon's Media fanning the flames of sectarianism? 	
http://www.arabmediasociety.com/?article=206
Politics have become so divisive in Lebanon that the national media council chief urged the media in January to curb "tense rhetoric" that could instigate violence among the country's religious sects, writes Contributing Editor Paul Cochrane.  So what are the media up to?  Are they guilty of fanning the flames?

Filming the Modern Middle East: Politics in the Cinemas of Hollywood and the Arab World. Lina Khatib. London: IB Tauris, 2006
http://www.arabmediasociety.com/?article=209
Lina Khatib laments the fact that "the number of studies on the way the Middle East represents itself cinematically . is infinitesimal." Yet because Khatib does not pursue this much-needed study herself, she misses a valuable opportunity to engage with the Arab cinema on a deeper level of analysis, argues Refqa Abu-Remaileh.