(The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and in no way reflect those of the UK Ministry of Defence.) Militarily, there was never any doubt that the US-led Coalition would prevail over Saddam's forces in March and April 2003. However, there was much more …
Read More »The Challenge for Al Jazeera International
Al Jazeera's new English-language service is not about to take the United States by storm, but it could have a major effect on Muslim communities around the globe. Its greatest impact, however, may be on Al Jazeera's Arabic broadcasts. As veterans of the American media environment know, US audiences are …
Read More »US Public Diplomacy: Targeting the Ruled or the Rulers?
It seemed a mere coincidence that only two days after the airing of the CBS 60 Minutes on Abu Gharaib prison torture April 26, 2004, Margaret Tutweiler, the US undersecretary for Public Diplomacy, resigned to take a position in the New York Stock Exchange. Ms. Tutweiler's resignation was as low-key …
Read More »Alhurra is at the Heart of the War of Ideas
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 …
Read More »What the World Thinks of Al Jazeera
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 …
Read More »Alhurra on the Cairo Street
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 …
Read More »Stealth Bouquet: The MBC Group Moves On
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 …
Read More »Al Jazeera: Once More into the Fray
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 …
Read More »The Other Face of the Video Clip: Sami Yusuf and the Call for al-Fann al-Hadif
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, …
Read More »Video Venom Must Stop!
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 …
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