Dr. Rasha Abdulla, associate professor in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at the American University in Cairo speaks with us about her work on big data, social media and the Egyptian Revolution. Together with a group of scholars from the University of Amsterdam, Dr. Abdulla conducted big data research using the contents of the “We Are All Khaled Said” Facebook page. Dr. Abdulla was lead on an article investigating the role of the page as a venue for lessons in democratic participation.
Read More »Egyptian President al-Sisi Meets with Intellectuals Amid Rising Concerns over Media Freedom
March 22, 2016—Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi initiated an open dialogue today with prominent intellectual figures, according to a statement from the President’s Office. The meeting, which was attended by approximately twenty invitees, marked the inaugural installment of a series of planned national dialogues among politicians, intellectuals, and media workers.
Read More »Tech, Time, and Jihad
On December 28th, 2015, when the Iraqi army felt confident enough of the military situation around Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, it invited the world’s media to witness the raising of the national flag atop a central administration building. For the Iraqi government, the ejection of ISIS jihadists from …
Read More »PODCAST | View From the Front Line
With over thirty years of experience as a war reporter in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria, Kurt Pelda is well acquainted with the terrors of armed conflict. In this podcast, he shares his perspectives on the war in Syria, challenges the propaganda emerging from the conflict, and shares his personal experiences of life on the frontlines of some of the bloodiest conflicts in recent history.
Read More »Egyptian Writer and Journalist Sentenced to Two Years in Prison
February 20, 2016—Egyptian writer and novelist Ahmed Naji was sentenced to two years in prison on Saturday after publishing "obscene sexual content" from a chapter in his novel, The Guide for Using Life, in a state-owned literary magazine in August 2014.
Read More »Stepping Out of Line: Egypt’s Coverage of Giulio Regeni’s Murder
In the aftermath of the brutal murder of Giulio Regeni, Egypt’s Ministry of Interior released a statement denying that it had arrested the Italian graduate student on the day he disappeared, ten days before his body was found in a ditch outside of Cairo. The ministry’s denial came after …
Read More »Leading Egyptian Journalist Mohamed Hassanein Heikal Dies at 92
February 17, 2016—Prominent Egyptian writer Mohamed Hassanein Heikal passed away today at the age of 92, state television reported.
Read More »BOOK EXCERPT | Media, Revolution and Politics in Egypt
With the demise of the second Arab autocrat within a month, people power seemed on the verge of revolutionizing the Middle East, a region known for its monarchs and presidents for life. Abdalla Hassan's book unpacks Egypt’s media and political dynamics—tracing events leading up to the 2011 revolution, the 18 days of uprising, military rule, an Islamist president’s year in office, his ouster by the army, and the reestablishment of the military presidency. Expanded freedoms of expression, in the press and on the streets, have contracted with the skillful reinvention of repression. This is the story of an uprising.
Read More »Whose Cairo is Featured in al-Qahira music video?
February 3, 2016—“One of two Egyptian music idols has just returned from Dubai, the other from Germany, to shoot a video for a duet sung in praise of a Cairo that they cannot actually stand living in,” wrote a young Egyptian dentist in a Facebook post that was shared more than 7,600 times and liked by 26,000 people as of Wednesday.
Read More »Good Neighbors, Fragile Borders
Protect your borders – one critical lesson of the Syrian war that Saudi Arabia is taking close to heart. The Syrian regime proved lethally effective in the art of crushing internal dissent. Its use of informal militias among multiple agencies of security and military, its Arab nationalist propaganda, the projection …
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