The United States Government's new Arabic-language satellite television channel claims to be bringing something new to the Arab world. The message is impossible to miss, as it is incessantly hyped in the clumsily cued station promos: If you look, you must surely see; a new horizon; a new window on the …

There is something very important to be said about competition, especially within the media. With the onslaught of cable and satellite networks in the United States, Americans can easily watch a news story on four or five different channels, to ensure they get a balanced and accurate idea of what …

Usually when I get to Qatar I check into a hotel and make my way over to Al Jazeera. Not this time around. This time, my first stop was the new Ritz Carleton, where I stayed there for the next couple days to attend a conference on development and democracy …

Over the past seven years Al Jazeera has introduced a new culture and a new paradigm into the Arab world. A culture and a paradigm that rest upon the free exercise of journalism and public affairs broadcasting. During the early days of Al Jazeera it was something exciting to have …

With new suicide bombings reported in Israel, more violence threatens. Can this conflict be reported differently? Can the media play a more pro-peace role? I was asked to write about that possibility for the Palestine-Israel Journal, jointly edited by Israelis and Palestinians and published in East Jerusalem. Thanks to Common …

When reporters and TV news executives gathered at the Fira Palace Hotel in Barcelona last November for the Fourth News World Global News Forum (with participants drawn from the ranks of CNN, APTN, BBC, ITN, CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox News, among the many media organizations represented), the atmosphere was very …

The Intercultural Communication Conference, an annual conclave of communication scholars sans frontieres in Coral Gables, Florida, is nothing if not diverse. The 18th meeting of the conference, sponsored by the University of Miami School of Communication March 1-3, had human rights as its central theme, but even that could cover …