BBC Monitoring The Saudi Press Agency, SPA, in English on 1 October issued a note, withdrawing the referent item on a statement issued by the Saudi Grand Mufti warning Saudi youths against travelling abroad for jihad. No reason was given for pulling the item. The note reads: "Editors note: Please …

BBC Monitoring Text of report by Afghan independent Tolo TV, part of the Moby Media Group, on 2 October [Presenter] The National Radio and TV [RTA, state-owned national broadcaster] has been detached from the framework of Information and Culture Ministry. The decision was announced at the two-day meeting of the …

BBC Monitoring Text of article entitled: "Media should stop broadcasting un-Islamic programmes" published by independent Afghan newspaper Rah-e Nejat on 26 September Yesterday [25 September], media owners were summoned by the religious and cultural affairs commission of the Wolesi Jerga and the parliament members urged the media owners to stop …

BBC Monitoring Text of report by Egyptian newspaper Al Ahram Weekly website on 27 September [Article by Karim al-Khashab: "The Changing Face of the News"] Karim al-Khashab reviews the emergence of an "adversarial" press unseen in Egypt since the 1920s. The number of journalists facing prison sentences is growing. On …

BBC Monitoring Text of report by Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency Islamabad, 30 September: Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Sunday [30 September] took suo motu notice [of his own will] of the incident of the use of force and thrashing of lawyers and media persons …

Enough already with the 'media dialogues' between Arab and Western journalists. The fortunes spent on these conferences could be put to much better use in cooperative lessons-learned networks and long-term training programs, argues Publisher and Co-Editor Lawrence Pintak.

October 2007. Speaking to Arab Media & Society’s George Weyman in July 2007, Sue Phillips, London bureau chief for Al Jazeera International, reflects on the network’s first year and the changes and challenges that lie ahead.

October, 2007. In a segment by George Weyman, the BBC’s World’s media correspondent Sebastian Usher discusses the Alan Johnston kidnapping in Gaza and the dynamics of journalist kidnappings in the world today.

George Weyman gives an in-depth look at the popular Egyptian blog Two Pairs of Eyes, and argues that its bloggers seek to re-formulate but not reject dominant social values.

When is a joke in Lebanon not funny anymore? When it mocks Hassan Nasrallah and stokes highly tense sectarian sentiments, demonstrates Contributing Editor Sune Haugbolle. (Features Video)