Debate and discussion are at the cornerstone of any democracy. There have been many changes throughout the Middle East in the past year with the elections in Iraq, Palestine, and Saudi Arabia, as well as the demonstrations in Lebanon and the Mubarak Initiative. As the political landscape of the Middle …

Between November 2003 and May 2004, while I was writing my book about Al Jazeera, I spent time interviewing a multitude of miscellaneous individuals and organizations about their feelings towards the network. I heard a diverse range of opinions about the channel, stretching from the overwhelmingly positive to the vehemently …

A heated debate rages within public diplomacy circles over who is watching Alhurra and how the channel is perceived by Arab audiences. Polls commissioned by Alhurra indicate much higher viewership numbers and credibility ratings than those reported in independent surveys conducted by academics and Arab research organizations. In an effort …

DUBAI -- There was a big splash when MBC moved out of Battersea several years ago and took up quarters in its elegant lagoon-side section of the Media City complex here (see New MBC: The Marriage of Elegant Professionalism and Emirati Glitter, TBS 9). The move was followed by another stir …

DOHA -- There is no getting away from it. Al Jazeera continues to dominate the discourse, despite significantly improved competition (reflected in growing market share) from Al Arabiya and a step back over the past year from its past tendency to overly emotionalize, Fox TV-style, when framing the news. Nowhere …

In the ongoing debate about Arabic music video clips that currently engulfs the cafés and newspapers of Egypt and the rest of the Arab world, one frequently comes across critics who decry the apparent lack of diversity and meaningful messages contained in this pop culture genre. According to this argument, …

Juha once remarked, as he sat on the beach and looked at the incoming waves, "There are more coming in than there are going out." Critics of Arabic music video clips may wish to ponder this wisdom and bow to the inevitable, since their efforts to stem the tide are …

A voluptuous female swings her body back and forth in an atmosphere torrid with sex. She revolves around a respectable middle-aged gentleman seated behind a desk and surrounded by heaps of papers. The female bends her trunk and straightens her lower limbs in a desperate attempt to convince the gentleman …

BEIRUT -- A visual orgy. A human tsunami. A numbers game. Observers ran out of labels to describe Lebanon's made-for-TV intifada against a three-decade Syrian presence and attempts to counter it by Damascus' allies.  In a bid to sway public opinion for or against the government and its Syrian patron, …

(Translated by David Wilmsen, TBS contributing editor)  A persistent question amongst Arab thinkers simply stated is this: What does the future hold for culture in our land? If we think about it, the word "culture" holds multiple meanings for each of us. For that reason, I should begin with a …