The Arab League Satellite Broadcasting Charter is not so much different than the charters of many of the world’s broadcasting networks, such as NHK, BBC, and others, argues Hussein Y.Amin.

The Arab Satellite Charter is a potent mix of over-regulation and unclear direction where the vocabulary of modernization collides with the rhetoric of tradition, and the realities of political change conflict with the desire to preserve the status quo, write Monroe Price.

The Arab Satellite Charter is not an attempt to create an Arab version of the FCC, but rather a move to control the minds and thoughts of Arab viewers, mostly on political issues, writes Daoud Kuttab.

Visit him online at www.kimbadawi.com Arab Media & Society best photograph of 2007.  Photographers, if you are interested in submitting a photo, please email managing editor Will Ward at ams.auc@gmail.com. We need shots of media being produced and consumed throughout the Middle East.  Click for information on photo submissions and …

While the strength of the writing and research varies by chapter, New Media and the New Middle East adds valuable data to a field where usage statistics and baseline information about audiences and advertising are virtually non-existent, says Book Reviews Editor Courtney C. Radsch.

Why was 2007 one of the deadliest years for Middle East reporters since World War II? Publisher and Co-Editor Lawrence Pintak looks back at a year of troubling trends for journalism in the region.

Jennifer Peterson tracks how traditional Sufi poetry is mixed and remixed into contemporary dance music heard widely on the streets of Cairo. Features video and audio examples.

The Iranian television drama Narges was a smash hit in 2006, but the action wasn’t just on screen. Josie Delap examines the relationships between the stars’ on-air characters and their private personas, including a sex tape scandal that roiled the Iranian authorities.

“Shafik shows that cinema has enabled filmmakers and viewers to go through cathartic exercises to express dissatisfaction, grief, imaginary empowerment and solidarity, and argues that this artistic channel is especially important because Egypt lacks an adequate civil society,” writes Nesreen Khashan.

Why is London losing its appeal as an Arab media hub? Not much has changed about Britain as a host, but structural shifts in the industry and a changing political landscape have combined to reduce the need for an offshore base, writes Najm Jarrah.