February 3, 2016—“One of two Egyptian music idols has just returned from Dubai, the other from Germany, to shoot a video for a duet sung in praise of a Cairo that they cannot actually stand living in,” wrote a young Egyptian dentist in a Facebook post that was shared more than 7,600 times and liked by 26,000 people as of Wednesday.
Read More »Egyptian Cartoonist Released Without Charges
February 1, 2016—After questioning this morning, Egyptian prosecutors ordered the release of Islam Gawish the day after his arrest. No charges were filed against him. (Aswat Masriya)
Read More »Egyptian Cartoonist Arrested at his Office
January 31, 2016—Egyptian cartoonist Islam Gawish was arrested today while working in the Egypt News Network offices. The official cause for the arrest remains unclear, but a source inside Cairo's Security Directorate has told Aswat Masriya the reason.
Read More »Egyptian Prosecutors Look Into Prank on Police
January 26, 2016—Egyptian prosecutors are looking into a complaint filed against an actor and a correspondent for a TV comedy show over a video in which they played a prank on policemen.
Read More »Arab Media: From Decolonization to Arab Spring
Arab media has been a powerful tool in the hands of Arab states since the decolonization period. The Nasser regime used radio, television and print media to mobilize support for Egypt’s Non-Aligned and Pan-Arab foreign policy, and apply methods of mass media propaganda developed in Europe, establishing a model for …
Read More »Book Review | Civil Imagination: A Political Ontology of Photography
In Civil Imagination: A Political Ontology of Photography, Ariella Azoulay interrogates issues of visual culture, in particular photography, the role of spectator-critics, body politics, and citizenship, through the lens of the Palestinian struggle. She argues that the boundaries of the aesthetic, the political, and the civil perpetuate power relations of nation-states and exclusions. Kiranjeet Kaur Dhillon reviews.
Read More »Why Egypt needs an Audiovisual Translation Authority
Muhammad Y Gamal makes a compelling case for the establishment of an Egyptian Audiovisual Translation Authority. Laying out a short history of translation in Egypt, Gamal argues that the country has not laid the groundwork to keep up with changing modalities of translation and communication in the information age. This, he argues, is critical for the proper development of several sectors, including education, tourism, entertainment and foreign affairs.
Read More »Turkish soap operas in the Arab world: social liberation or cultural alienation?
Alexandra Buccianti looks at the Turkish soap opera phenomenon as a successful model of hybridization and sets it against the background of Turkey's historical role in the Arab world
Read More »From Saints to Sinners: Identity and celebrity in a contemporary Iranian television serial
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.
Read More »Reality Television and Politics in the Arab World: Preliminary Observations
In the wake of controversy triggered by Super Star and Star Academy, some observers have hailed reality television as a harbinger of democracy in the Arab world. Marwan Kraidy looks at the political implications of a new and popular genre hitting Arab satellite television.
Read More »