Lebanese women journalists braved bombs, bullets and missiles to report the conflict between Hizbullah and Israel in the summer of 2006, sometimes surpassing their male colleagues’ coverage by providing insight into the conflict’s human nature, says Magda Abu-Fadil.

When Bahrain Online founder Ali Abdulemam and his partners were arrested in February 2005 for hosting a critical United Nations human-rights report about Bahrain, fittingly enough the first to respond were colleagues in the Bahraini blogosphere, reports Luke Schleusener.

"The headline is a lie. I never did stop worrying about the Middle East and my hatred for its dictators is just as virulent as ever. But one thing has changed: I no longer feel the despair and indifference borne of years reporting on the region’s leaders. And that’s thanks to blogs," says Mona Eltahawy.

The future of political blogging in Egypt greatly depends on its fostering links with mainstream independent media, says Rania Al Malky. But what, if anything, has the blogging-led reform movement achieved to date?

The real-world impact of blogs in the Middle East remains to be seen. But women bloggers stress that there is agency and empowerment in just being able to write, reports Sharon Otterman.

When Claudia Gazzini went in search of the Libyan blogosphere, she found neither the blogs nor the bloggers. But what she did find was an increasingly vocal exile community using interactive websites and forums to push for change in their homeland.

Even if Dor’s book is only a case study, it nevertheless contributes to the general debate about how media can contribute to democracy and political freedom, says Jan Voelkel.

‘Muhajababes’ is hardly a title most academic journals would be interested in. But to ignore this book purely because it targets a wide audience would be a grave mistake, argues Managing Editor George Weyman.

During the 2006 Lebanon War, bloggers were able to influence the agenda for traditional media coverage more than ever before. But they will not overtake mainstream media anytime soon, argues Will Ward.

The degree to which Israel’s attacks on Al Manar could be considered lawful and legitimate in international law depends largely on the actions of Al Manar and whether it played a role as an interested party on the battlefield, says Andrew Exum.