In 1995, TBS senior editor and publisher S. Abdallah Schleifer presented two substantially similar papers at two different conferences a week apart--the Broadcast Education Association convention in Las Vegas and the 12th Annual Symposium of the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS), devoted that year to "The Information Revolution in …
Read More »Interview with Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi
17 October, 2004 in Doha, Qatar Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi is one of the best known, longest established, and most controversial of Arab world satellite preachers. TBS's senior editor S. Abdallah Schleifer interviewed Sheikh al-Qaradawi in Doha about his relationship with the medium. TBS: When did you first start speaking about Islam on television? What …
Read More »Report on the 58th Annual Middle East Institute Conference: “The Use and Limits of Power in the Middle East”
Panel: "Media Diplomacy: Who Controls the Control Room?" National Press Club, Washington, D.C. 5-6 October 2004 By far the most lively panel during October's annual Middle East Institute (MEI) conference in Washington, D.C., was "Media Diplomacy: Who Controls the Control Room?" featuring interesting insights from independent filmmaker Jehane Noujaim and The …
Read More »Arab Women and the New Media: Empowerment or Disempowerment?
Cambridge Arab Media Project: The Media and Political Change in the Arab World, 29-30 September 2004 "Empowerment" is a term that appeared for the first time in the UN's World Survey on the Role of Women in Development (1986). It referred to the productivity of agriculture, and was defined as a process …
Read More »On the Role of Media in the Current Transition Phase in Iraq
Cambridge Arab Media Project: The Media and Political Change in the Arab World, 29-30 September 2004 Iraq has suffered decades of war and brutal dictatorship which have left the country weak and exhausted. The situation in post-war Iraq is unstable, Iraqi civil society has been destroyed, and the economy is …
Read More »Arab Satellite Broadcasting: An Alternative to Political Parties?
Cambridge Arab Media Project: The Media and Political Change in the Arab World, 29-30 September 2004 Thinking about Arab Satellite Broadcasting (ASB), I soon realized that there is no theoretical base for it. Hannah Arendt, the great German political thinker, argued that theory is for weak brains-but I have Max …
Read More »Remarks in Response to Saad Eddin Ibrahim
Cambridge Arab Media Project: The Media and Political Change in the Arab World, 29-30 September 2004 Thank you very much. I am actually very proud to talk after Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim, who is one of those people who inspired our thoughts when we were students--political science students at Cairo …
Read More »Thoughts on Arab Satellite Television, Pan-Arabism, and Freedom of Expression
Cambridge Arab Media Project: The Media and Political Change in the Arab World, 29-30 September 2004 Good morning everybody. Let me start by expressing my gratitude at being invited to this event and also for the very strong start that we had last night, which makes my job easier this …
Read More »Keynote Address – The Cambridge Arab Media Project: The Media and Political Change in the Arab World
The Cambridge Arab Media Project: The Media and Political Change in the Arab World, 29-30 September 2004 What I would like to do today is put the issue of the media in some perspective, both analytical and historical. Then I will put some thoughts on the table about the extent …
Read More »Between Theory and Practice: A Report on the Cambridge Arab Media Project’s Conference on “The Media and Political Change in the Arab World”
Moller Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge, UK 28-30 September 2004 Does transnational broadcasting media impact political change in the Arab world, and if so, in what way and to what extent? This question lies at the heart of the ongoing discourse about Arab satellites and their role in opening and defining …
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