Nov
16
2006
By Daoud Kuttab
When it first appeared, the new satellite channel broadcast from Qatar reflected its own name. Al-Jazeera – Arabic for “the island” – represented a haven of professional, independent, current affairs programming in a sea of one-sided, government-controlled Arab media. Until al-Jazeera’s journalists, mostly BBC-trained, arrived on the scene, the average Arab citizen’s news television diet was nothing more than protocol news, wire service video reflecting the latest in the Palestinian conflict, and dramatic photos of earthquakes or wild fires. Continue Reading »
Dec
09
2005
Courage In Their Coverage
By David Ignatius
Wednesday, December 7, 2005; A25
DUBAI — Talking with brave Arab journalists such as Hussein Shobokshi, I hear the passion that animates good reporting everywhere. And it makes me all the more disgusted by recent revelations that my own government has been corrupting the nascent Iraqi free press by planting stories.
Shobokshi was fired by the Jiddah daily paper Okaz in 2003 after he wrote a column imagining a democratic Saudi future in which his daughter could drive, leaders were elected and the budget was public. This June he was attacked for writing a column in Asharq al-Awsat titled, “Why Do We Hate the Jews?” He described “a very noble and polite” Jewish doctor in America who had treated his young nephew for a rare cancer, and he asked why Saudis were encouraged “to hate Jews and pray against them, too.” Continue Reading »
Oct
12
2005
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Journalists and the plague of being identified with interviews
By Daoud Kuttab
It has always been a problem for journalists: how to carry on the profession of journalism without being accused of sympathizing with the person you are covering. Every journalist who covers a conflict can’t help but have some sympathies for his subject. Internationally famous New York Times columnist Tom Friedman once told me that a good journalist always shows his subject that he is genuinely interested in what he is saying. You have to give the person you are interviewing the feeling that you are hanging on every word he or she is saying, he explained. Continue Reading »
Oct
07
2005
By Daoud Kuttab
It has always been a problem for journalists. How to carry on the profession of journalism without being accused of sympathizing with the person you are covering. Ever journalist who covers a conflict can’t help but have some sympathizes for his subject. Internationally famous columnists Tom Friedman once told me that a good journalist always shows his subject that he is genuinely interested in what he is saying. You have to give the person you are interviewing the feeling that you are handing on every word he or she is saying, he explained. Continue Reading »
Oct
05
2005
by Daoud Kuttab
The world community has suddenly become interested in the media scene in the Arab world. It is not clear whether this is a result of the success enjoyed by some Arab satellites or simply an attempt to find a way to win the hearts and minds of Arabs and Muslims, as part of the West’s “war on terrorâ€. Major countries, among them the US, Sweden, UK, EU, are pouring millions of dollars supposedly towards making the Arab media more independent, and media groups are coming together to see what are the needs of the media in this region of the world. For those of us struggling for independent media in this area, this is generally good news, although we must be aware of the many pitfalls that can accompany such an abrupt interest in this sector. Continue Reading »
Dec
05
2004
This is the BBC from London, Voice of America from Washington, Deutsche Welle from Germany, Monte Carlo Radio from France. According to Reuters, AP wire service, UPI news. This is CNN. You are watching the Disney Channel, Hollywood channel, History Channel. Tonight’s feature is The Terminator. Follow the latest episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful, Dallas, Friends, The Practice, NYPD Blue, Law and Order. Continue Reading »
Sep
23
2004
Television has been both a blessing and a curse for Palestinians. During the first Intifada, one can argue that it was a blessing. It raised the profile of a people refusing to accept living indefinitely under occupation.
This Palestinian popular resistance was beamed all over the world and won sympathy and support from people. What was projected then was the image of a people wishing to be free and willing to protest military occupation without using arms. Many credit the success at Oslo and the historic agreement signed at the White House to the popular nature of the Intifada and the enormous television coverage it attracted. Continue Reading »
Sep
10
2004
We all prefer shortcuts. None of us likes to do things that require time and patience. Whether it is a visit to the dentist or world peace, shortcuts might be desirable, but they rarely produce the required results.
I thought of this yesterday as I was having a pleasant breakfast at the Amman Intercontinental. The discussion was with Eason Jordan, the head of the news department at CNN, and the topic was Palestine and independent media in the Arab world. Eason Jordan, along with many CNN staff members from the region and the world are in Jordan for the wedding of former CNN reporter Rym Brahimi to HRH Prince Ali. Continue Reading »
Aug
07
2004
No one is indifferent to Al Jazeera, the Qatari-based Arab satellite television station. You can sense the blood of U.S. officials boil when they discuss it. To be sure, in the context of the dream of all Arabs being united and independent of foreign control, Al Jazeera is undeniably partial to Arab aspirations. But that does not make its news reporting untruthful. Continue Reading »
Jul
30
2004
What happened in Gaza and Ramallah during the past few weeks has left many people perplexed. How much was genuine and how much was contrived? And if it was set up, who set it up? For what reason? And for whose benefit? Who are the key players in this political play? Continue Reading »