At an exhibit in Chicago about the war in Iraq

What I remember first is blood.

It wasn’t everywhere and it was only one day when I went searching in Iraqi hospitals for colleagues badly hurt in a blast that is stuck in my mind’s eye. A door swung open in one hospital and there was blood everywhere.

On the floor. On the walls. On the beds. And there didn’t seem anything else but blood. Or at least I couldn’t focus otherwise.

But that’s not what I talked about when I talked about Iraq the other day at a presentation on the Iraq war at the MCA, an exhibit that is amazingly brilliant for its reliance on dozens of people to sit and tell their stories one at a time, day after day: soldiers and refugees and anti-war activists and scholars and physicians.

I talked about the Iraqi psychiatrist in Baghdad who told me how Iraqis were too numb to feel because of all they had suffered and this was in the early days after the U.S. led invasion. I talked about the fear I remember seeing on the face of young soldiers headed out on patrols and how one night at a military hospital a young soldier waiting to hear what happened to a pal said he wished he got hit too so his waiting would be over. And I talked about the smothering oppression in the Saddam years and how I met people digging up mass graves and families searching for lost friends or relatives and people who had spent years in prisons for the slightest disregard to the former regime.

There was so much to say and I seem to have said so little and I wanted to say more. In the days to come folks will sit, as I did, on a couch in the middle of the very modest exhibit, drink tea and nibble on Middle Eastern sweets and talk about what they know from their time in Iraq or from their contact with those of us touched by Iraq: a VA hospital psychologist, soldiers who have fought in Iraq, Major L. Tammy Duckworth (Nov.7) who is now an assistant secretary with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, artists, anti-war activists, human rights experts, and Iraqis from Chicago and its long-established Iraqi community, some new arrivals and some passing through. Some of the sessions will also be Arabic. In so many ways this too is a Chicago story.

The picture up below is of the cafe in  Muntabbi street, a street of booksellers, a revered place for Iraqis who sought books banned by the old regime, and a place the exhibit commemorates with the wreckage of a car blown up in an attack there. A place where I bought a caligraphy of great art work and lovely meaning from the Koran from a well-known caligrapher who was killed in a random attack some time after. The exhibit runs until Nov.15

click here to learn about the exhibit at the MCA:

http://tinyurl.com/yfm5pwk

salaam, Stephen

this is about the exhibit too; http://conversationsaboutiraq.org/interviews.php#esam

الكتابة عن حرية الصحافة

http://www.almasryonline.com/portal/page/portal/MasryPortal/ARTICLE_EN?itId=UG107191&pId=UG14&pType=1

My thinking on writing about freedom of the press is that it should be normal and regular and remind people that without freedom of the press there really is no news media worth the attention. It needs to be fair and complete and to tell stories that give histories – stories that put countries and eras into context. Why does it matter that some people care in the Middle East about freedom of the press? That is the journalist’s job to explain.  The reason needs to be explained and repeated and expanded every time a story is written, and every time there needs to be a sense of who is accountable.

Consider this story from al Masry al Youm

What does Egypt need?

Every so often you read something in a newspaper that takes your breath away. It connects with its readers. It captures a reality they feel deep down. It moves them. It raises their eyes to a larger horizon. This is when the news media soars andwhen it is so needed and so importantly. Here is a translation of a column by Magdy al Gallad of al Masry al Youm newspaper. Read the Arabic as well.

By   Magdi al-Gallad    5/ 4/ 2009

I am sympathetic with the April 6 Youth Movement in its attempts to search for a way out of the current situation in Egypt. However, I think its call for the annual strike has no big hope or feasibility. Perhaps, this is because the change could not be achieved by an annual “Day” in which we celebrate saying “No” or perhaps because the strike will turn – year after a year – into a “repeated confrontation” between “excellent students” raising banners against the ruling regime, and “excellent young men” wearing security uniforms to arrest scores of protestors under strict orders. The two parties are Egyptian and some of them may be living in the same home!   This is not a disincentive to the demonstrators and the protesters, who do their best to stage their all-out strike. It is not also despair at resisting a regime, which is used to hear nothing but its voice, see nothing but its images and feel nothing but its personal features. But I mean to call on those young people to open new windows of hope away from the regime and the government’s inactivity. This hope will never turn into fact without grouping up the young people’s ranks around a great dream to be imposed on the ruling regime! We will clearly see this dream in lost eyes looking for inspiration to take them out of despair and alienation. It is the same dream that lives in strong arms that have not been used till now.   Immediately after getting out from a large supermarket late at night, a young man and his pregnant wife said: “We want to sit with you for a short time”. I tried to apologize because it was late and I was tired at the end of the day, but they insisted. We sat in a café and drank hot tea. He started to talk about Egypt, which no longer has a single image. He surprised me and said: “I wish I could feel Egypt as my father used to tell me about. He was speaking about it proudly. He used to say that Egypt will stay even if everything else was lost. If our dream turned into a nightmare, we will try again. My son you should know that Egypt is stronger than any force in the world. It will not be defeated either by external enemy or occupation.”   The young man, who did not exceed 28 years, stopped talking and looked to his wife and said: “We got married for love in a time of internal colonization. We talk a lot with our friends about the past, the present and the future. We do not know which Egypt we love. Is it Egypt that was ruled by corruption and tyranny or Egypt we see at Deweika or Egypt that is “raped” in resorts and nightclubs or Egypt that is lost in the eyes of the unemployed young people in cafes and “dens of drugs? We missed Egypt too much and we want to leave no stone unturned to turn it into the best country in the world!   After that the wife said: “He and I graduated from the Faculty of Engineering. We are working day and night to get food. We have ideas, but no one pays attention to them. We’ve turned to employees in merciless jobs that kill our creativity. In addition, I have concerns over the future of my would-be child because the future of Egypt is gloomy.” How could I ask my child to study hard to be an excellent student? I studied and became an engineer, but I live at the bottom rung of society! How could I ask him to be good in a time in which everything has turned upside down and good people have become corrupt? How could I teach him values, which have no place in the age of the valueless? They said painful words, but before leaving they said: “We want hope and a way to lead us to Egypt, which has left and hasn’t returned!” To the Youth of April: Find this couple and start together, but from where will you start? That is the question we should both be looking to answer! http://www.almasry-alyoum.com/article2.aspx?ArticleID=205757

الكتابة عن الأزمة المالية العالمية: نظرة للصحفيين في الشرق الأوسط Covering the Economic Crisis, a guide

 –        الدليل الأساسي

ستيفن فرانكلين

1.      يجب أن نبدأ الخبر بقصة يغلب عليها الطابع البشري. هذه القصة هي ما تربط الحقائق بالمشاعر.

ماذا عن هؤلاء الذين فقدوا مدخراتهم وخسروا أعمالهم؟ قليلة هي  الأخبار التي تبدأ \ بقصص عن هؤلاء الأشخاص.

أسئلة

ماذا عن هؤلاء الذين فقدوا وظائفهم وتم تسريحهم؟ كيف يمكنك أن تضفي الطابع المحلي على فقدان الوظائف؟ ما هي المجتمعات الأكثر تأثراً، والصناعات، ما هو نوع العمالة – هل هم من المهنيين أم من عمال المصانع أم العاملين في مجال الخدمات؟

وماذا عن هؤلاء الذين تأجلت خططهم المهنية فجأة ودون سابق إنذار؟

إذا قمنا بزيارة إلى السوق، والمتاجر حيث يشتري الناس البضائع المختلفة، ما الذي ستعرفه عن الاقتصاد؟ هل يمكنك أن تصنع إطاراً لخبرك من خلال ذهابك إلى المكان الذي يلمس فيه الاقتصاد حياة الناس؟ كيف يمكن لزيارتك أن تختلف عما يكتبه الخبراء أو يقولونه؟

2.      في الكثير من البلدان، تعتبر الأموال التي يرسلها العمال في الخارج إلى أسرهم من خلال الحوالات من العوامل الجوهرية في الاقتصاد القومي.

أسئلة

هل انخفض تدفق الأموال الآتية من خارج البلاد؟

من تأثر  من جراء خسارة هذه الأموال؟

هل انخفض عدد الأشخاص الذين يسافرون للعمل في الخارج، وهل تغير هذا النمط؟ ما هي الفئة المقبلة على السفر؟ ولماذا؟

هل تزايد عدد الأشخاص الذي يبحثون عن فرص عمل خارج البلاد؟

إذن، يجب أن نتحدث عن واقع الأسواق ذاتها.

أسئلة

إلى أي درجة كانت هذه الأسواق تتمتع بالحماية اللازمة لمواجهة مثل هذه الانهيارات؟  

إلى أي درجة تتوافر الشفافية حتى يتسنى للمستثمرين معرفة فيما تستثمر أموالهم، ومدى استقرار الأسواق، وكيف تعمل الأسواق اليوم في العالم العربي؟ ما هو وضع الشفافية في البورصة وبالنسبة للشركات؟

إلى أي  درجة ترتبط الأزمة المالية في العالم العربي بالاستثمارات الأجنبية عالية المخاطر، والمقامرات المالية المشكوك فيها، والاعتماد على النصائح الخاطئة لمواجهة الأزمة؟

كيف تغيرت البورصات خلال العقد الماضي في العالم العربي؟ ما هي الأدوات الاستثمارية الجديدة التي بدأت الشركات والمستثمرين في استخدامها؟

ما هو الدور الذي لعبته الاستثمارات في الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية وأوروبا في خلق وضع اقتصادي غير مستقر؟

3.      العولمة

أسئلة

ما هو تأثير الشركات الأجنبية على الاقتصاد؟  

هل قامت تلك الشركات بالمساهمة في استقرار الوضع الاقتصادي؟ وكيف كان للاقتصاد أن يتعامل مع الأزمة في حالة وجود عدد أقل من الشركات الأجنبية؟  

هل هناك نمط سلوكي معين متبع بين الشركات في هذا الموقف؟ بمعني، هل تقوم هذه الشركات بتحويل أنشطة أعمالها من دولة إلى أخرى؟ وما هي الإستراتيجيات التي تتبعها هذه الشركات؟

إلى أي مدى تتأثر البلدان العربية بالاقتصاد العالمي الآن؟ وأي منها الأكثر تأثراً؟

ما هو الأثر الذي ستخلفه الأزمة المالية على خطط هذه الشركات في المستقبل بالنسبة للدول العربية؟ ما هو الدور الذي يلعبه الاستثمار الأجنبي في قدرة العالم العربي على حماية نفسه؟

4.      التطلع إلى المستقبل

أسئلة

ما الذي يعنيه الانهيار في أسعار النفط للمنطقة، ولكل دولة على حدة وللشركات والاقتصادات وعلى الصعيد السياسي؟

نحتاج إلى تفاصيل بشأن نظرة الحكومات والمستثمرين إلى المستقبل. هل كان هذا الانهيار متوقعاً؟ إذا لم تعد أسعار النفط إلى أعلى معدلاتها، ما الذي سيحدث بعد ذلك للبلدان التي تعتمد اقتصاداتها على النفط؟ ما الدور الذي سيلعبه الغاز في الاقتصادات العربية؟

وماذا عن مقارنة الإستراتيجيات المالية للدول المختلفة التي تأثرت بالأزمة الاقتصادية؟ ما هي الدول التي وفرت الحماية اللازمة لبورصاتها، وخفضت أسعار الفائدة، ودعمت البنوك؟ هل اختلفت النتائج؟ 

كيف تباين التأثير على الدول الفقيرة والغنية في الشرق الأوسط؟ كيف أثر ارتفاع أسعار الغذاء والوقود على البلدان الأقل ثراءً؟ ما هو التأثير الذي خلفته الأزمة على الفلاحين وأسعار الغذاء؟

            هذه العناصر الخبرية يجب أن مترابطة وتتماشى مع السياق العام.

إذا شهد السوق انخفاضاً حاداً في الأسعار، كم كان هذا الانخفاض في الستة أشهر الماضية، وفي العام الماضي؟ ما هو حجم الدين العام الذي تأثر بهذه الخسائر؟

كيف تأثرت الأجور وتكاليف المعيشة وأساسيات الحياة؟ ما هي آخر الإحصائيات الخاصة بمعدلات البطالة؟ كيف تأثرت الضرائب والعوائد؟ ما هي مصادر الدخل مثل السياحة وغيرها من دعائم الاقتصاد التي تدهورت في ظل الأزمة؟ 

إذا لم تتمكن من الحصول على هذه الأرقام أو غيرها بسهولة من المسئولين بالحكومة، فما هي المصادر الأخرى التي تتيح مثل هذه البيانات؟ من الخبراء الأكاديميين والمنظمات الخاصة والمؤسسات البحثية والهيئات الدولية؟

ضع قائمة يمكنك الاعتماد عليها وبمواعيد التسليم الخاصة بالأخبار ومتابعتها وبالمشروعات قصيرة وطويلة الأجل؟ وبمناسبة المشروعات، ما هي الأخبار الاقتصادية التي حدثت اليوم والتي تعتقد أنه يمكنك متابعتها لمدة عام من تاريخ اليوم؟

اجعل أخبارك وتحليلاتك تتصف بالإنسانية والقوة وتتماشي مع السياق.

ما هو وجه الاختلاف بين الوقت الحاضر، وعام مضي، أو خمسة أو عشرة أعوام ماضية؟ ارسم صورة للاقتصاد من القمة إلى حيث تشتري الخبز وتملأ سياراتك بالبنزين. هل هناك علاقة بين ما يقوله مسئولو الحكومة وطريقة عمل الاقتصاد المحلي وما يعتقده المواطنون؟

استخدم الأرقام والرسومات البيانية لتحويل الأرقام إلى واقع، ومن ثم يضعها القراء في سياقها المناسب. أين يمكنك العثور على الأرقام والرسومات  البيانية التي يمكنك الاستعانة بها؟

 

الكتابة عن انهيار الاقتصاد Covering the financial collapse in the Middle East-

 

Traveling in Qatar – Kuwait – Emirates – Saudi Arabia:

The charts are the same – oil’s collapsing price, stock markets’ collapsing values. The photos are the same: frustrated traders, worried leaders of stock markets. But some reporting is missing.

First there is the human story, the story that connects facts with feelings.

What about those who have lost their savings, their businesses? Few stories begin with the tales of these people. What about those who jobs have been cut? The workers who have to return home, or who can nolonger send home as much as they once did. And what about those whose career plans have suddenly been put on hold?

Then we need to talk about the the reality of the markets themselves. How well were they protected against such crashes? How much transparency exists so that investors knew where their funds were going, and how markets operate today in the Arab world? How much of the Arab world’s financial slide is linked to risky foreign investments, questionable financial gambles, dependence on advice that was blown away by the crisis?

Then we need to look ahead. What does the collapse in oil prices mean for the region, for each country, for businesses, for economies, for politics? We need details on how governments and investors are looking ahead. Was this collapse anticipated? And if if oil never returns to the mountaintop of prices, what will come next for those countries that counted on it?  And how about a comparison of the financial strategies of each country touched by the economic quiksand?

And lastly, the stories need to be pertinent and in context. If there’s been a market swoon, how much in the last six month, in the last year? How much of the nation’s debt is impacted by the losses? How have wages,the costs of l iving, the basic things of life been impacted. Make the stories and anlaysis humane, and compelling and draw the picture of the economy all the way from the top down to the store where you buy your bread.

Use number and charts to make the numbers real and then people and then put it all into context so that it matters.

 

These are the stories that need to told, and they way they might be.

حقوق الانسان والمدونين

For a good description of the state of blogging and human rights in the Arab world, read the results of this conference in Cairo sponsored by the Arab Network for Human Rights Informnation, in Arabic and English

http://www.openarab.net/ar/node/531

Are blogs alternative media in the Middle East?

this raises an interesting question –

Beirut-based blogger, Razan Ghazzawi, discusses what blogs mean to the media landscape, for journalism and for the concept of free speech and democracy in the Middle-East.

 

BY RAZAN GHAZZAWI

 

BEIRUT, June 25, 2008 (MENASSAT) — I want to dispel misconceptions surrounding blogs and blogging in the Arab world. Misconceptions I consider to be the same (in the Arab world) as those surrounding the press, freedom and democracy.

In the media landscape, blogs have been allowed to fill some sort of media/content vacuum, and nowadays blogging is considered “alternative” media.

How the “official” or “independent” media has allowed for such a vacuum to exist is unclear to me? Nonetheless, blogging is alternative media and finding out why requires an evaluation – an evaluation of the role of journalism and the role of different forms of media.

If I am asked, I say that journalism, like the idea of truth, has become an industry, and not just an industry but monopolized by industry like other concepts such as freedom, freedom of speech and democracy – all of these things have been commodified.

I think the official media is a contradiction to the idea of a “free” media. Rather than a plurality of voices, it monopolizes the voices of the people. Slogans become stories in order to create one identity with the disguise of plurality.

The same polarity exists with the concept of “independent journalism” or “independent” media. In this case, it is reduced to one meaning: opposing the dictator, i.e. opposing the “official” media.

I often wonder whether society is simply following a new policy that says, “If I am of the opposition then I’m free?” Does freedom mean opposition only?

Blogging as what…?

Unfortunately, journalism has over the decades become a victim of reductive logic, in which it falls into the categories of “official” or “independent” journalism rather than old-fashioned journalism.

Here, I ask, is it good to consider blogging a function of alternative media alone? I mean, if the free press were an alternative to the official media, how would blogging be an alternative – an alternative for what specifically?

I personally object to using the word “alternative” to describe blogging or blogs, for the term itself suggests eliminating something in order to replace it with something else. What’s worse is that this has already happened and “alternative” has become part of the media lexicon without discussing the form of media it is replacing.

http://menassat.com/?q=en/news-articles/4001-blog-what-middle-east

ما هي المشكلة مع الصحفيين من اليمن؟What’s the problem with Yemen’s journalists?

This is a courageous editorial from the Yemen Times.

The image of Yemeni media globally is that journalists are struggling for freedom of expression willing to die for the cause, while the evil Yemeni government especially the Ministry of Information and the political security apparatus are chocking the life and spirit out of the free journalists. There are reportedly many violations against freedom of press, and so many local reports come every year to document such violations.

For example, the Center for Training and Protection of Journalists’ Freedoms based in Sana’a issued its annual report this month stating that there had been 220 registered incidents against journalists in 2007, while the first third of 2008 witnessed 52 violations. These range from harassment, verbal and physical abuse and court cases. Year 2007 was termed by the report as the worst year for freedom of press in Yemen.

However, that is only half of the story.

The other half which not many people talk or want to talk about is regarding the number of false news items published by Yemeni media, or the number of drastic mistakes in figures and inaccuracies published and broadcasted. Or the extortion incidents Yemeni journalists are committing against business owners, government officials and even diplomats so as to get money.

Worse of all, no one talks about how the Yemeni journalists’ community is suffering from apathy regarding causes they claim to defend. They even don’t show support to their own issues such as violations against the press. In the protest called on by the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate last week in support of Al-Wasat Newspaper, which was prevented from being printed, of the hundreds of Sana’a based journalists only 12 showed up. And I am sure some of them were at the syndicate by chance just to follow their journalists ID cards or some other business.

But this was not reported because we do not want the government to think that we are divided and that we don’t care if Al-Wasat ever publishes again or Al-Khaiwani receives a death sentence.

This is partly because many of the people working in media today are there because they could not do anything else. There is a common saying in Yemen that journalism is the profession of those who don’t have a job. So they are just considering journalism as a job like any other job and they simply want to keep it by staying out of trouble, so that they get a salary at the end of the month. This applies heavily to official media including TV and radio.

The other reason is that a large part of Yemeni journalists are frustrated and bored. They are underpaid, under trained and not respected. So they don’t appreciate their profession and the “will to defend the truth and change the world”, has long gone with the first paycheck. Now there is even a worse trend which is: Yemeni journalists write about events and issues only if that particular organization pays them to do so. They are simply sold. For example, for international organsiations including the high level ones such as the UN agencies, the World Bank, or even events carried out by embassies, there is a budget line called media transport allowance. This is apparently the money they give journalists in order to get them on board and give the event or the issue publicity. Apparently it is to help the journalists get “transportation” to the venue of the event. Keep in mind that they pay at least 2000 Yemeni riyals per day, while it could cost 40 riyals on average to get physically to that venue. Maybe transportation here includes spiritual preparation for journalists, or maybe they are hiring expensive cars, but nevertheless, it works. And this is why if someone has an event but does not include “transportation allowance” none will even show up, let alone write about it. Of course there are exceptions, but they are only what they are: exceptions.

So before you jump into conclusions about the situation of Yemeni media, maybe it would be fairer to all parts to take a look at the other side of the story and then see how and who in Yemeni media equation should be supported.

 

This is an inspiring interview with the 29-year-old editor of the Yemen  Times; Nadia al Saqqaf

http://www.strategicforesight.com/iwforum/nadia.htm

المشي الى الوراء في الوقت المناسبThe Arab Media’s backward slide

from Arab Media and Society:

Unfortunately, as the latest Freedom House report underlines, the relationship between media and state in the Middle East and North Africa is no fairy tale. Not a single Arab country has a press classified as “free.” For every step forward, there is at least one step back. For every official committed to loosening the reins, there is a lawyer wielding a lawsuit or a police thug with a blood-spattered baton. The rack may be history, but electric probes are today’s torture implement of choice. Just ask blogger and labor activist Kareem al-Beheiri.

http://www.arabmediasociety.com/?article=669

الحرية التي اختفت Freedom Disappeared

 

http://www.cpj.org/attacks07/mideast

 

from the Committee to Protect Journalism on the Arab news media 2007

In terms of the media, governments have built new strategies to contain the assertive journalists who have emerged over the last decade in countries such as Algeria, Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. Job dismissals, behind-the-scenes threats, third-party defamation suits, and trumped-up terrorism charges like those brought against al-Khaiwani have replaced the torture, enforced disappearances, and open-ended incarcerations that were the hallmarks of the previous era. Image conscious governments have also become masters of spin, championing cosmetic media reforms designed mainly for public consumption.

 

بعيدا عن الأنظار، نوع جديد من القمع
بقلم: جويل كمبانيا

في وقت العصر من أحد أيام الاربعاء في حزيران/يونيو الماضي، قام عملاء تابعون لأجهزة الأمن اليمنية بمداهمة منزل المحرر الصحفي الجريء عبد الكريم الخيواني، ثم جروه لمحاكمة أمام محكمة أمن الدولة في العاصمة صنعاء. استجوبت النيابة العامة الخيواني، ثم وجهت له تهمة الانتماء لخلية إرهابية سرية—وهي تهمة يمكن أن يعاقب عليها القانون بالإعدام. وقد سبب هذا الاعتقال صدمة بين الصحفيين اليمنيين، وتساءل بعضهم صراحة ما إذا كان زميلهم المعروف بمقالاته المهيّجة التي يهاجم فيها الحكومة اليمنية وحربها ضد المتمردين في مدينة صعدة الواقعة في الشمال الغربي من البلاد، متورطا بأمر شنيع. وقد أصدرت لجنة حماية الصحفيين حينها تصريحات متحفظة أعربت فيها عن انشغالها، لأنها لم تكن متأكدة من أن هذه التهمة لا أساس لها من الصحة

See the report in Arabic, click link.

http://cpj.org/attacks07/mideast_arb/ar_mideast_analysis_07.html

On Arab world satellites, from Amnesty International

ينبغي على مؤتمر قمة جامعة الدول العربية أن يرفض القيود الجديدة المفروضة على البث الفضائي

قالت منظمة العفو الدولية اليوم إنه ينبغي على ممثلي دول الجامعة العربية المجتمعين في دمشق بسورية يومي 28 و29 مارس/آذار أن يتخذوا خطوات لمعالجة المشاكل الأساسية لحقوق الإنسان التي تواجه منطقة الشرق الأوسط.

وقال مالكوم سمارت مدير برنامج الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا في منظمة العفو الدولية إن “الجامعة العربية ما برحت تشارك بصورة متزايدة في الجهود الرامية إلى تسوية بعض الخلافات السياسية الكبرى في المنطقة، لاسيما المأزق المستمر الذي يظل يحول دون انتخاب رئيس جديد في لبنان”، وأضاف “لكنها أخفقت في معالجة بواعث القلق عميقة الجذور المتعلقة بحقوق الإنسان، وقد اتخذت في الآونة الأخيرة خطوة خطيرة إلى الوراء بمساندة قيود جديدة على البث”.

ودعت المنظمة الجامعة إلى الرفض القاطع والكلي لمبادئ تنظيم البث الفضائي في العالم العربي، التي اعتمدها وزراء الإعلام في الدول الأعضاء في الجامعة في 12 فبراير/شباط، والتي تشكل جزءاً من مسودة ميثاق البث الفضائي العربي.

وقال مالكوم سمارت إن “البث الفضائي يظل حيوياً في زيادة حرية تدفق المعلومات والأفكار في العالم العربي، ولا يجوز أن يخضع لمزيد من القيود غير المشروعة”، وتابع قائلاً إنه “في دول عديدة يظل الإعلام خاضعاً لرقابة رسمية شديدة وأصلاً تكافح مؤسسات البث المرئي والمسموع والصحافة في ظروف صعبة لوضع المعلومات المهمة في متناول الجمهور، ويظل العديد من الصحفيين يتعرضون للمضايقة والعقوبات بسبب الأخبار التي ينشرونها.”

On the press in Egypt

 from the Initiative for an Open Arab press

Walls of Glass!

Nothing can be hidden in Egypt . The state-owned newspapers are no longer the only source of news or information. To know about real situations in Egypt , one can read the independent newspapers and bloggs.

Torture, corruption, political suppression, poverty, and peaceful and violent protests, all art taking place in Egypt , but the state-controlled media never comment or publish such aspects.

Nowadays, the situation is different; such aspects and events are widely known. All what you need to know about them is to read an independent newspaper or a blogg or to watch the space channels.

No one is above criticism, and no more government secrets, all now are known. Executioners are no longer free to chastise people and go with impunity. Young journalists and bloggers are there to write, criticize and record shootings.

The slogan of “Every thing is OK in Egypt ” is changed to be “ Egypt is not well, let us expose this to find a treatment”.

 http://openarab.net/en/reports/opinion/opinion2.shtml

Living with the red lines تعيش مع الخطوط الحمراء

 Can you tell the truth in little parts at a time? Can you cut the news into little pieces and hand them out one at a time? Maybe yes. Maybe there is no other other way in the Arab world? What do you think? I wonder if there is a way in between silence and confrontation? Here are the words of one editor at a recent Arab Press conference in Beirut.  ”You cannot be revolutionary, you have to be evolutionary,” said Mohamed Alayyan, Publisher of Al Ghad, the largest independent newspaper in Jordan and the second largest overall. “You can’t say, ’I’m going to turn the tables’, because it won’t get you anywhere and may get you into jail. It is important to adapt and you have to keep pushing the envelope slowly to get to your goal, to get to — if there is such a thing — absolute freedom of speech.”