View
245
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
8/8/2019 Dead Sea Scrolling
1/12
Communications and Society Program
Summer 2008
AabU.. Media Foum
Blog World of Maktoob .........................................................2
Baghdad Reporting Assignment ................... ..................... ... 5
Virtual Pilgimmage ...............................................................6
Egypt's Gen-Facebook ...........................................................9
Dialogue participants ...........................................................11
Recommendations ..................... .................... ..................... 12
Inside
Information Flows: Speaking in Tongues
Whle Seeding Social Networking
By Crocker Snow Jr.
he liespan o ne meia as an essential nes source in the U.S. an Araborls respectively can be measure on the ngers o to hans. Ne meiahas ominate or approximately ten years in the Unite States an about halthat in the Arab orl. Little enough time to ra conclusions about the social-
izing eects o ne meia, about best an orst practice or even the angers ue
to their capacity to oer narro perspectives on the one han or irresponsible
unaccountability on the other.
Yet 510 years is more than sucient to take revealing exit polls an count the
early returns.
Arab World's New Media Windfall:
Sweet for Users, Sour for Governments
By Daoud Kuttab
Ne meia opportunities have been a gosen to creatures an con-sumers o inormation in the Arab orl. While the traitional meiahas been slo to respon to the opportunities oere by ne meia, othershave not.
Te constraints on inormation fos in the Arab region have let a big
ent on traitional meia outlets. Most raio an V stations are govern-
ment monopolies. Most major nespapers are irectly or inirectly con-
trolle by governments or businesspeople ith close associations to ruling
regimes. Checks an balances in the orm o inepenent associations or
When a band of new media types from the United States andthe Arab world gathered at the lowest point of earth1800feet below sea level on the Jordan side of the Dead Seatheirdiscourse was sometimes salty and decidedly buoyant.
The fth in an ongoing series of ArabU.S. editors dialogues,this one focused exclusively on the impact of new media inspanning the cultural and informational divides betweenthe Arab and American media worlds, and in dissolving theharmful stereotyping in which both worlds so readily engage.
Arab-American commentator Rami Khouri makes the point that theinformation war is the only one in which the Arab world, with the ex-plosion of satellite television and its offshoots, has fought the Ameri-cans to a draw.
Draw or not, the dialogue has been joined to foster cooperation, notheighten competition. Entitled The New Media Environment: Pathsto Understanding, the 2008 forum focused primarily on state-of-the-art new media and the opportunities for increased understanding and
cultural empathy they provide.
(Continued on page 4) (Continued on page 8)
Umm Faleh, a 90-year old shepherd of Jordan's Azamat tribe, gains literacy through thecomputer as the Arab world broadly embraces new media and fresh social activism.
8/8/2019 Dead Sea Scrolling
2/12
2 Dead Sea Scrol ling
Blogging has taken its place as a notable nesan opinion activity in the Arab orl over thelast three years. Tough Arabic blogging is still atan early stage, it is rapily becoming an important
meium an a public opinion shaper in the region.
Many no escribe it as the alternative meia an
see it as a strong uture contener to the mainstream
meia.
Maktoob.com launche its blog service in De-
cember 2005 ith a core o early aopters, mainly
journalists ho alreay use the Internet.
oday Maktoob Blogs boasts over 100,000 blog-
gers and is growing at a ast pace. Beyond numbers
alone, our Blogs community now embodies bloggers
rom all countries and nationalities. Te subject mat-
ter varies as much as the participants, ranging rom
simple writings like diaries, cooking, ashion, jokes,
caricature, and general writings to specialized writ-
ings in dierent scientic, literary, technical, social,
economical, and political elds.
Tere is also a notable increase in interaction
beteen bloggers themselves on their blogs as mea-
sure by comments, posts an iversity o iscusse
topics.
A WAY TO TAKE THE ARAB PULSE
In scanning, searching an surng Maktoob blogs,
one can eel the interaction o community interests
in the Arab Mile East. One can, in eect, eel the
pulse o the Arab orl.
Blogs are succeeing in conveying the citizens
voice an thoughts, attitues, opinions, reactions
an experiences in all aspects o lie. A major reason
hy is the high level o reeom o expression that
blogs allo.
Authorities have been slo to see this an, ac-
coringly, slo to crack on on the reeom o
expression alloe. Signs that this is changing are
beginning to emerge.
Maktoob bloggers come rom eciely ier-
ent emographic groups in terms o age, gener an
eucational levels. Te very interactivity an com-
munity-builing that can be one online an across
the vast geographical area o the Arab orl oers
a ne imension to bloggers an reaers that is notoere by traitional meia.
Te high groth o Maktoob blogs can be attrib-
ute variously to the increase in Internet penetra-
tion in the Arab orl as ell as rising aareness o
the importance o communication an reeom o
speech. Te attention o the Arab street an Arabic
public opinion to public aairs ue to the current
political situations in the region, particularly in Iraq,
Iran an Israel, is also essential. Te eect o these
ongoing political crises on the Arab iniviuals ai-
ly lie has also brought blogging as a prime tool ocommunications to the ore.
BLOGGERS DELIVERING NEW TRANSPARENCIES IN ARAB WORLD
By Samih ToukanYemeni government respone to an outcry o pro-
test rom bloggers an supporters o reeom o
thought an speech by unblocking the ebsite a-ter a e ays, but the Syrians hel ast ith their
blocking or eeks on en.
As a service provider, Maktoob is stuck in the mid-
dle. We encourage reedom o speech and ree fows
o inormation. At the same time, we need to protect
the service and the bloggers rom being blocked. Tis
is an occupational hazard o our business.
Despite the blocking an the attempt by govern-
ments to censor the Internet in general an blogs in
particularas they ere accustome to ith trai-
tional meiait is unlikely that the sprea o this
meium can be eectively arreste.
Te trens are clear in our part o the orl
as much as elsehere. Te Internet an its ever-
changing applications are a key part o the present
an, no oubt, o the uture. It can be a central tool
in encouraging an enabling the emocratization o
Arab societies. damih oukan coounded
Maktoob.com in 1998. With
degees om London and Pais,he peviously woked
o ndesen Consulting,
Jodan.
Te success o a core o ell-knon journalists
ho publishe ritings an vies let untouche
by traitional meia has urther het the public ap-
petite an contributes to increasing the number o
bloggers an reaers ay by ay.
Te most important characteristics o blogs are
reeom an absence o censorship. Yet these very
traits are, ironically, the most important iculties
that e at Maktoob ace.Te concept o accepting other peoples opin-
ions is ne to Arab societies , causing some bloggers
to push to ban blogs that raise controversial politi-
cal, religious or social issues hich ier rom their
on belies an loyalties.
As blogs sprea, bloggers are learning to be-
come more emocratic an to absorb, i not accept,
anothers perspective.
Unortunately hoever, some blog-
gers in the Mile East have taken to
misusing their reeoms. aking avan-
tage o the absence o censorship, they
utilize their blogs, online chat rooms
an anity groups to promote illegal
or unethical topics or encourage terror-
ism. Tis has given rise to a ne orm
o blog community-monitoring le by
other bloggers ho survey the electron-
ic trac an take spontaneous steps to
eectively police hat they vie to be
illegal or irresponsible postings.Hoever, the most serious issue
acing the blogging revolution in the
Arab Worl toay is not the irrespon-
sibility o bloggers but unnecessary an
unneee blocking an censoring o
blogs by some governments. Tis is not
an uncommon occurrence as Arab gov-
ernments react in traitional ays to
hat they see as nontraitional trans-
parency-base threats.
Maktoob blogs, or example, havebeen blocke in Yemen an Syria. Te
Maktoobs most inuential bloggers :
Blogger Name Blog's URL
3mhammad.maktoobblog.com
ahmedzaidan.maktoobblog.com
hadji74.maktoobblog.com awraq-com.maktoobblog.com
.. drmohammed.maktoobblog.com
kamel-nsirat.maktoobblog.com
asil.maktoobblog.com
ziad-1937.maktoobblog.com
helmialasmar.maktoobblog.com
elkadiki.maktoobblog.com
aqel59.maktoobblog.com maram42007.maktoobblog.com
ksrwani.maktoobblog.com abdelhak-hoggui.maktoobblog.com
1serano.maktoobblog.com
chams02.maktoobblog.com
elragihe2007.maktoobblog.com
. fisabeelellah.maktoobblog.com
elbayomy1.maktoobblog.com
ziadjayyosi1955.maktoobblog.com
-- hadoota.maktoobblog.com
8/8/2019 Dead Sea Scrolling
3/12
Dead Sea Scrol ling 3
From zero to largestand most protable
Arabic portal inthis millennium
Source: Arab Advisors Group (www.arabadvisors.com)
Arab World Internet Applications (%)Internet Accounts (in thousands)
1999 2001 2003 2005 2007
Jordan 29 56 78 130 200
Syria 3 26 122 216 695
Egypt 63 120 647 951 1,099
Lebanon 80 120 160 200 260
Saudi Arabia 45 360 675 1,352 1,829
Kuwait 80 100 227 290 370
Qatar 9 13 32 53 87
Bahrain 20 45 49 50 77
Oman 17 41 51 78 94
UAE 128 251 350 529 878
Total by Year 473.795 1,132.205 2,390.701 3,849.753 5,586.926
Popular and News-Driven Arab Blogs and Aggregators
Forum participants nominated the most popular andinuential blogs and content aggregators on and aboutthe Arab world today. Those named:
http://a-mother-from-gaza.blogspot.com/A Mother
from Gaza. Diary of Laila El-Haddad, a Palestinianjournalist and mother who divides her time betweenGaza and Durham, North Carolina. InEnglish
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/The Angry Arab. Thisblog by Prof. Assad Abu Khalil is edgy and though itis California based it is also popular in the Arab World,especially in Lebanon. InEnglish
http://arabist.net/The Arabist is centered on Egyptbut also covers other areas of the Arab world, notablythe Levant and the Maghreb. While focused onpolitical issues, it also highlights important culturaltrends in the Arab world. In English
http://baheyya.blogspot.comBaheyya: Egypt Analysisand Whimsy. Commentary on Egyptian politics andculture by an Egyptian woman who blogs under thename Baheyya. The blog has been described as quietlyintrospective without any of the usual chest-beatingand hair tugging. In English
http://benkerishan.blogspot.com/The Lands ofSands, written by a blogger purportedly from Al-Ain inthe United Arab Emirates. This blog has been blockedin most Gulf countries due to its criticism of religionsin general and Islam in particular as well as criticizingnorms and traditions. In Arabic
http://creativesyria.com/syrianbloggers/Creative
Syrias open forum for Syria bloggers and experts. InEnglish
http://www.electronicintifada.net/The ElectronicIntifada. U.S.-based Palestinian journalist AliAbunimah maintains this blog of news and opinion onPalestine and the Middle East. In English
http://fakirnihindi.wordpress.com/Kafr al-Hanadwa,literally the Village of the Indians or Village of Fools/Simpletons refers to a popular satirical weekly cartoonin the Egyptian newspaperAkhbar al-Youm. Topics ofinterest include religion, politics, media and popularculture, and food. In English
http://kuwaitjunior.blogspot.com/Sahat Al-Safat.AKuwaiti site somewhere between a traditional blog,
electronic journalism and news website. The We WantIt 5 movement was started and maintained from thissitethe movement has been instrumental in gettingthe Kuwaiti electoral law changed from about 25 or
40 districts to 5. The result is less sectarianism andtribalism controlling Kuwaiti elections. In Arabic
http://mahmood.tv/Mahmoods Den, by Bahrainibusinessman Mahmood Al-Yousif, includes news andcommentary on the Bahraini government, local andworld politics, religion and society, as well as glimpsesof his daily life and interests. In English
http://misrdigital.blogspirit.com/Egyptian WaelAbbas award-winning blog; content is heavy withpictures and cartoons. In Arabic
http://rafah.virtualactivism.net/news/todaymain.htmRafah Today. A blog about daily life in thePalestinian city of Rafah, by Mohammed Omer. Omeris the recipient of the 2008 Martha Gelhorn Prizefor Journalism from the British Academy of Film andTelevision Arts. InEnglish
http://sabbah.biz/Sabbah Blog. Written by HaithamSabbah, a Palestinian activist with a large following,this blog ranks 17,948 and has an authority of 257 onTechnorati. (Technorati Authority is the number ofblogs linking to a website in the last six months. Thehigher the number, the more Technorati Authority theblog has.) In English
http://saudijeans.org/Ahmed Al-Omran (aka theSaudi Blogfather) is also inuential in Saudi. He
transcends traditional sectarian divides in that countryand is an active electronic campaigner who has keptthe world informed of the happenings in his countryand the recent detention and release of fellow Saudiblogger Fouad Al-Farhan. In English
http://wa7damasrya.blogspot.com/Written by aCairo-based female blogger. In Arabic
http://www.2by4.org/ written by Bader Alfraih,Kuwaiti blogger of note who is also responsible for theinitiation of physical bloggers meetings in Kuwait andthe creation of Kuwaiti blog aggregator www
.kuwaitblogs.com. In English
http://www.kuwait-unplugged.com/KuwaitUnpluggedis one of the oldest blogs in the Arab world,
it has gained quite a following both from within and
without Kuwait. The gentleman behind it goes by the
pseudonym Zaydoun. In Arabic
http://www.manalaa.net/Manal and Alaas bit bucket.
Their greatest contribution is that they are such a goodforum. In Arabic with some English postings
http://www.monaeltahawy.com/blog/ Mona Eltahawy
is an award-winning New York-based journalist and
commentator on Arab and Muslim issues. In English
Aggregators:http://www.albawaba.com/ Jordan-based Arab news
and blog aggregator. (English)
http://www.arabcrunch.com ArabCrunch is one of
the rst Arabian originated blogs dedicated to prolingand reviewing Arab-originated startups and existing
Internet and mobile companies, their products and
their services. InEnglish, with Arabic site planned
http://bahrainblogs.org/aggregator of blogs from
Bahrain. (Arabic and English)
http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/non-prot
global citizens media project that presents the most
inuential or respected and credible bloggers or
podcasters in any given country. (English)
http://www.ikhwanweb.com/ the Muslim
Brotherhood ofcial English language website.
(English)
http://www.islamonline.net/ broad source of news,
information on daily life and religion, family, art and
culture, discussion forums. (Arabic and English)
http://itoot.net/pan-Arab blog aggregator that
samples diverse array of blogs and shares the most
interesting ideas, posts and conversations of the day.
(Arabic and English)
http://www.jeeran.com/ Jordan based (English)
http://www.kuwaitblogs.com/Kuwaiti blog
aggregator (English)
http://www.omraneya.net/ Egyptian blog aggregator
(Arabic and English)
http://uaecommunity.blogspot.com/blog forum
uniting webloggers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).(English)
Jordan Egypt
Work 39.8 Work 23.3
Study 52.2 Study 19.3
Contacting my friends/ family 62.3 Contacting my friends/ family 77.6
Knowledge/ information 46.6 Knowledge/ information 48.9
General interests 49.6 General interests 13.5
Saudi Arabia UAE
Audio and video streaming 28.0 Audio and video streaming 45.2
Collecting information and research 66.2 Collecting information and research 80.6
Chatting 38.5 Chatting 63.6
Downloading les 73.4 E-mails 100.0
Social websites 72.0 Downloading les 77.3
To play online games 23.4 Social websites 46.5
Sports news 27.7 To play online games 25.4
News 49.3 Sports news 29.3
Others 11.2 News 70.6
Others 2.0
8/8/2019 Dead Sea Scrolling
4/12
4 Dead Sea Scrol ling
Te 2008 Arab-U.S. Meia Forum at the Dea
Sea provie this opportunity. Tirty practitioners,
entrepreneurs an thinkers exchange insights,
experiences an rustrations. Tey spoke the same
ne meia language as i a common mother tongue.An they clearly agree on several unamental
precepts o the el.
Such as:
Ne meia are typically user riven, ith more
control veste in the users pull o esire con-
tent than the much more characteristic prouc-
er riven push-pull ynamics o traitional print
an broacast meia.
Te barriers to entry in the el are extremely
lo compare to traitional orms o print
an broacast. Hoever, the opportunity
to gain attention rom an inormation satu-
rate public is also extremely lo.
Ne meia enable ne orms o citizen
journalism an, ue to their accessibil-
ity, a great capacity or social netorking
among like-mine iniviuals an anity
groups.
Ne meia provie opportunities or the mar-
ginalize iniviual, community or point o vie
to get attention an, ith merit an goo timing,to avance into the mainstream.
Still today, new media are oten authorized as
reliable and their news breaks notable only when
picked up by or reported on by traditional media.
Such generally agree-upon points only scratch
the surace. Te pressures, priorities an, most es-
pecially, pace o ne meia are vastly ierent than
those o traitional meia, an quite ierent as
ell in the Arab an American orls respectively.
Ne meia evelope as an essential source ones in the Unite States starting in the mi 1990s
only sloly, ithout much anare. Tey arrive on
the scene ue to the entrepreneurial rive o some
ot-com pioneers an technocrati an ith resis-
tance rom existing meia companies. Only grau-
ally i traitional meia recognize the opportunity
an the threatan take up stearship o the
ne meia cause. Te publisher o the New Yok
imes calls one o that nespapers primary roles
to curate the eb.
Te traitional print an broacast meia in the
Arab orl also shunne ne meia initially, an
almost all notable ne meia initiatives ere rst
evelope by entrepreneurs rather than by existing
nes organizations.
INFORMATION TREES FALLING IN
THE CRESCENDO FOREST
With this parallel ancestry, the interplay among
Arab an American participants at the symposium
revolve much more aroun questions o eectthan o cause.
Ne meia are changing the very physics o in-
ormation preparation, retrieval an use. Tey have
change the inormation gauge rom one in hich
content as scarce an attention-abunant to one
in hich there is an abunancei not superabun-
anceo inormation.
Attention is the scarcest an arguably most val-ue commoity. Tere are, in eect, too many inor-
mation trees alling in the orest or the ear to hear.
Steart Bran, a pioneer o the Internet an the
online el, has argue that the Internets principal
breakthrough is enabling the ree fos o inorma-
tion. Inormation ants to be ree, he is amously
quote. But not alays, or in the vie o all.
Inormation oes not ant to be ree. It ants
to be labele, organize, an ltere so that it can
(Snow, continued from page 1)
(Continued on page 10)
ay to a conusing embarrassment o riches. Te
ne meia age is a ar cry rom yesteryear hen,
or instance, American Presient Franklin Delano
Roosevelts note an inrequent Firesie Chats
ere hear by vast numbers o Americans at the
same time an through the single meium o raio
as a share experience o community consciousnessraising.
oay the capacity or a user to select an even
customize his on inormation package can also
serve to reinorce ones on existing vies an prej-
uices rather than ventilate them ith resh per-
spectives. It can, in the extreme, heighten the nega-
tive social eect characterize by Davi Putnams
book Bowling lone: Te Collapse and Revival o
meican Community.
Te avent o ne meia in the Arab Mile
East as inhibite at rst by lo levels o com-
puter literacy an the high cost o Internet ac-
cess in the region. Most early usage as in Eng-
lish only; non-English speakers nee not have
applie.
Tis is no longer the case. Internet literacy
is rising an access costs ropping. Reportely
over hal the pages poste on the orlie
eb are not in English an more than 50 per cent
o Internet use in the Arab orl is no conucte
in Arabic.Governments in the Arab orl, as elsehere,
are playing catch-up, struggling ith the technology
an ne user psychology simultaneously. Arab ne
meia insiers recognize the symptoms, speaking
among themselves o analog an igital minis-
ters.
ANALOG AND DIGITAL
GOVERNMENT REACTIONS
Many governments are eciely schizophrenic, a-
vocating increase Internet access as an important
tool or evelopment hile simultaneously uner-
taking akar, oten ineective, eorts at shutting
on eb sites they n oensive.
Te ne orl o online nes sites, aggregators,
bloggers an citizen journalism via mobile phone
ent largely unrecognize initially by Arab govern-
ments an as thus unthreatening to them. Arab
journalists ha been conitione to sel-censorship.
Not so ith bloggers, ho typically came ith little
journalism experience an eer sel-constraints.Unaccountability an anonymity provie some as-
surance o saety in the Arab orl.
Until recently, the Internet has been icult to
censor. As one insier put it, Te Net treats censor-
ship as a technical eect, an simply routes aroun
it. But as bloggers particularly began raing atten-
tion to government policies an inciting opposition
to unpopular actions, more sophisticate attempts
to suocate the enabling technology have occurre.
be searche, cross-reerence an consume, riteJack Golsmith an imothy Wu, proessors at the
Harvar an Columbia La Schools respectively.
Inormation ltering is especially crucial to the
Net, here it is so easy to publish, an here the
anger o inormation overloa is so great.
Moreover, the Internet an orlie eb are
blurring the lines beteen users an proucer-pro-
viers. Te observant an eb-savvy citizen ith a
camcorer or smart phone has become a primary, i
not alays reliable, nes source.
Evience o ho ar this tren has come is theAmerican blogger, Joshua Micah Marshall, ouner
an eitor o alking Points Memo (talking-
pointsmemo.com), ho on the covete George
Polk Aar or legal reporting this year. He cre-
ite the reaers o his blog an their poste con-
tributions as the true sine qua non o his success.
An in the Mile East, Egyptian blogger Wael
Abbashose Youube account as shut on by
the governmenthas been iely recognize an
applaue by others.
Te very transparency that ne meia provie
is changing the rules o governance. Inormation
has alays been a primary coin o the realm or gov-
ernments, an no citizens as much as government
ocials are its bankers an cashiers.
Tere are contradictory social and inormation
eects to be sure. Social networking acilitated by
the Internet allows anity groups to support and
learn rom each other, or citizens to coalesce around
a cause.
Yet the socializing eect o a limite numbero establishe nes sources o the past has given
shap tongue cuts deepe than a swod
8/8/2019 Dead Sea Scrolling
5/12
Dead Sea Scrol ling 5
A Challenging Baghdad Assignment:
Arab Correspondent for U.S. Network
Excepts om a Keynote ddess by He Royal Highness Pincess Rym li o Jodan
he ouble-ege sor o the meia is ell-knon to all o us, but it takes on another i-mension as inormation is no longer the prerogative
o journalists but available to all through increasing
access to ever-evolving technology. With all the
blogs available, ith all the access to images epict-
ing all sies an ith all the illingness in
the orl to bring about mutual uner-
staning, one oul think there ere no
room or misunerstaning. Te overfoo inormation is such that it becomes like
a toer o Babelan making sense o it all
can be challenging, to say the least.
In this context, more than ever toay,
Arab an American journalists have a cru-
cial role to play.
But there are limits to hat even jour-
nalists in this pivotal position can o,
hen ace ith certain realities, as I
oun out uring my time reporting
or CNN in Iraq.I ha thoughtmaybe a bit naive-
lythat as an Arab journalist ork-
ing or a Western nes netork ith
both a omestic an an international
auience, I as in an ieal position
to truly she light on hat as hap-
pening in Iraq, in all objectivity o
course, but ith the extra avantage
o unerstaning the culture an
language. I also elt that ith my un-
erstaning o the West, here I ha
gron up as a chil an here I later
stuie an as traine, I coul bring
some ansers to the questions aske
rom across the Atlantic, about this
araay lan many ere tol oul
be the moel or emocracy in the
Mile East.
With that in min I oul eagerly
go about my business in Bagha, asking questions
to Iraqis rom all alks o lie. But I oul invari-ably be the one ace ith questions, such as: Are
you going to tell us that the greatest military poer
in the orl is truly incapable o restoring electric-
ity to our people? Is there really nothing they can
o to restore la an orer? Is it possible that this
as not all calculate rom the start to take avan-
tage o our oil?
Te questions ere numerous an challenging.
What o you tell Iraqis an Arabs ho ask you
hy the orls superpoer cannot stop the loot-
ing, the kinapping, the violence, or provie the
minimum o electricity an ater sanitation, an
hy U.S. authorities in Iraq i not count Iraqi ci-
vilian eaths?
An as you ork har to report on hat you
see, in the most unbiase ay possible, hat o you
tell millions o vieers atching you in the Unite
fo o unregulate content, some o hich goes
against intercultural ialogue an unerstaning.
Here, as much as in the Unite States or in Eu-
rope, e seek, or example, to eraicate chil por-
nography on the Net.
Here, as much as in the Unite States or in Eu-
rope, e seek to control the sprea an the
content o violent an extremist eb sites.
Tere is a large volume o other content
on the Net that certainly oes not promoteor create paths to unerstaning beteen
cultures, on the contrary, an that oes not
contribute to the harmonious an stable
groth o our societies.
We perceive a great nee to provie our
youth, our people, ith an eucation that al-
los them to take their time to harness, in a
positive, knolegeable an constructive
ay, the seas o popular isom that
they no n on the Net.
We also nee or the West, here accessto knolege, any kin o knolege, may
have become a constitutional right, not to
consier countries such as ours as back-
ar an in violation o reeom o speech,
hen e express concern at the content
o the knolege, the inormation to
hich our citizens, our youth in particular,
are expose.
As e suer the consequences o an
extremely volatile neighbourhoo, e in
Joran eel it is important to balance secu-
rity an stability concerns ith the pres-
sure, the urge, an the apparently inevita-
ble occurrence o an unlimite, unettere
access o all iniviuals to all an every
kin o contentat times simply create
by iniviuals in search o an outlet to
gain their 15 megabytes o glory. d
Princess Rym Ali was CNN cor-
respondent in Baghdad rom 20012004 beore moving to
Amman and ounding the non
proft Jordan Media Institute
as an Arab Center or Excel-
lence in Journalism Education
in 2007.
Keynote address at the 2008 Arab-U.S. Media Forum
MAHMOODAL-YOUSIF
You iend is he who tells you the tuth,
not he who agees with eveything you say
States, as you are aske yet other questions by an
anchor base in Atlanta, Ne York or Washington,
about hy their sons an aughters are being killeon a aily basis, an hy many Iraqis just ont
seem to appreciate their neoun reeomall in
the to minutes o airtime allotte to you?
I amit there are ays hen I still oner heth-
er I coul have provie better ansers.
TOO MUCH INFORMATION,
TOO LITTLE KNOWLEDGE
We are all, in the Arab orl as in the West, grap-
pling ith the potential consequences o the over-
8/8/2019 Dead Sea Scrolling
6/12
6 Dead Sea Scrol ling
We are intereste in un-erstaning Islam, RitaKing sai in the orm o her Sec-
on Lie avatar, Eureka Dejavu, a
statuesque, olive-skinne emale
ith long, foing chestnut tress-
es an an exquisite business suit.
My avatar, Schmilsson Nilsson,
a green-skinne, seven-oot tallmale ith iriescent goggles an
multi-colore realocks, ha
just onne his simple, hite Hajj
garments (calle iham).
U cannot understand Islam,
said Ingush, a youngish white male
avatar in jeans and a button-down
shirt. We stood there chatting in
a virtual realm, three real people
out there somewhere in the realworld, as a ourth avatar, a male
named Said, approached . . . U
need to believe.
At the site o IslamOnline.nets
replica o Mecca on the path to
the Hajj in the virtual orl o
Secon Lie, Rita J. King an I ha
just met to avatars, Ingush (ho
tol us he as rom the volatile
North Caucasus region in thephysical orl) an Sai (ho
sai he lives in the Unite States an has an Arabic
root).
Believe in hat, specically? Rita aske him.
Te anser: One Go. Is it possible, Rita aske,
to believe in one Go an not be Muslim? In-
gush, ho tol us he as a Sunni Muslim, sai no.
Sai sai that unerstaning is the rst step toar
belie. He aske hat it as e ante to uner-
stan about Islam.
We ere oing preliminary research or Un-
erstaning Islam through Virtual Worls, a
project une by a recent grant rom the Richar
Lounsbery Founation, as Senior Fellos at the
Carnegie Council or Ethics in International Aairs.
At the suggestion o some colleagues in Qatar, Rita
an I ere visiting a 3-D replica o Mecca built by
Cairo-base IslamOnline.net in the Virtual Worl
o Secon Lie.
We got more than hat e came or.
AN OFFER OF FRIENDSHIP DECLINED
What I am trying to learn is, ho can e begin the
process o creating a better unerstaning beteen
cultures? Rita aske.
Rita an I oere Ingush an Sai rienship.
In Secon Lie an avatar can oer rienship to
anyone. When a rienship oer is accepte, it al-
los each Secon Lie party to see hen the other
is online just as in a traitional 2-D eb chatroom;hen someone signs in, the other person is notie.
When a potential rien eclines the oer, the per-
son on the other en knos immeiately an suers
the sting o rejection ith a bol message on the
screen: Your oer or rienship as ecline.
In this case, e both elt the sting instantly as e
oere rienship. Ingush an Sai turne us both
on.
Visitors to the Mecca site click on a green u-
el bag just outsie the entrance. With one click the
uel bag lls your Secon Lie inventory ith all
the accessories you nee or the hajj, incluing a
complete ihram, scissors, Quran holer, an stone
throer. As Rita an I ere chatting ith Ingush
an Sai e ere instant messaging each other pri-
vately. What is the stone-throer or? she aske.
I Google the meaning an learne that it as the
ritual practice o emulating Ibrahim, Ismail an
Hajar, ho ere each tempte by Iblis (Satan) to ...
sacrice Ismail. Each rove Iblis o ith stones.Tough she ha clicke the hajj gear in her in-
ventory in an attempt to ear her ihram, it ha
never rezze, the Secon Lie colloquialism or an
item has not yet become visible on the screen. Or,
in this case, it as not visible on Eureka Dejavus
boy. Eureka Dejavu stoo there on the virtual path
to Mecca ith her hea uncovere.
Rita explaine to me hat as going on an
onere i they ere interpreting her attire to
mean that she as choosing to ignore their cultural
VIRTUAL PILGRIMAGE TO MECCABUILDING DIALOGUE WITH AVATAR ADVOCATES
By Joshua S. Fouts (with Rita J. King)
Foutss avatar, Schmilsson Nilsson, at IslamOnline.nets virtual Mecca in the virtual world of Second Life
JOSHUAS.FOUTS
8/8/2019 Dead Sea Scrolling
7/12
Dead Sea Scrol ling 7
A virtual world is a three-dimensional, immersivespace accessible in real time by people around the
world. In the case of Second Life, for example, it is
specically not a game with explicit rules and goals. In
Second Life there are no rules.
In this virtual space, players create avatars (or
3-D representations of themselves), build houses,
clothes, and relationships, and essentially conduct
second lives. This provides increased opportunities
for engagement with the people who visit them, thecommunities they build, and the spaces they inhabit.
Second Life is inherently globalwith almost 16
million registered users, less than 20% of whom are
from the United States. People in Second Life com-
municate using a mixture of text and voice, including
devices which simultaneously translate text in nearly a
dozen languages.J. Fouts
traition or, orse yet, as ignorant that the tra-
ition even existe. Despite Ritas best attempt at
shoing respect or their cultural mores, they ha
no ay o knoing hat she as tr ying to o.
IJTIHAD MISTAKEN FORJIHAD
Ingush aske i e ere Muslims an e tol him
about our mission.
Rita ha just complete reaing Te ouble
with Islam oday: Muslims Call o Reom in
He Faith, by Irsha Manji. She explaine that hat
she really ante as to unerstan the concept
o ijtiha, hich she interprete, ater reaing the
book, as a orm o critical thought: iniviual soul-
searching.
Rita aske Ingush an Sai about the role o ijti-
ha in the lives o a moern Muslims. Unortunatelythe language an culture barrier acte against her
ith Ingush, ho mistakenly rea the question as
one about jiha, not ijtihad. He thought she as
being hostile, an the tension as palpable. Rita
coul have logge out o Secon Lie at any time
an ene the conversation. Same ith Ingush. But
they both staye in-orl to resolve the confict.
Te semantic skirmish beteen them cleare
up, hoever, hen Rita aske Ingush to scroll up
an rea hat she ha ritten in the chat text. Atthis, e once again oere Ingush an Sai rien-
ship. Signicantly, this time they both accepte.
Te experience let us onering ho many bat-
tles are triggere by misunerstoo ors, real or
imagine.
Kings avatar, Eureka Dejavu, after a visit to IslamOnline.nets presence in thevirtual world of Second Life, where visitors can participate in a virtual hajj.
RITAJ.KING
SECOND LIVES
Te exchange beteen Ingush an Sai oul
be as unlikely to have happene in the physical
orl as it oul be or to male an emale, non-
Muslim Americans to alk up to to strangers out-
sie Mecca an ask them about itjiha. In act, one
coul saely say it coul never have happene. Te
societal regulations an barriers e place aroun
interactions in the physical orl oten inhibit the
opportunity to talk to strangers, to be vulnerable,
to ask burning questions, to expose onesel to criti-
cism. Te real an perceive risks are too high.
Because virtual orls eliminate the vulner-
ability o physical interaction, it becomes possible
or a oman rom Ne York an a Sunni Muslim
rom a volatile region in the Caucasus to not only
misunerstan each other, but also to move beyon
the conusion toar the rst inklings o mutual
trust. d
Joshua . Fouts is Chie Globaltategist o Dancing Ink Po-
ductions (www.euekadejavu
.com), a vitual wold consult-
ing fm. Rita J. King is CEO
and Ceative Diecto.
KATEAISHTON
not eveything that is known can be told
8/8/2019 Dead Sea Scrolling
8/12
8 Dead Sea Scrol ling
oversight by acaemic an meia critics have been
largely absent in the Arab countries.
Tis stifing atmosphere has create a genera-
tion o journalists ho have either fe their native
countries or ha to practice sel-censorship to sur-vive nanciallyan sometimes physically.
ransnational satellite an the orlie eb
have together jolte this meia culture out o its
eep sleep.
Te result as rst notice an embrace by e-
mocracy-seekers as ell as militant Islamists, ith
governments an traitional meia only paying at-
tention at a later stage. Whether it as the pan Arab
Al Jazeera satellite station or the tens o thousans
o bloggers on Maktoob, the Arab orls equiva-
lent o hotmail, inormation starte breaking out othe blockae that ha been erecte physically an
through aministrative means by various unemo-
cratic regimes.
By an large the majority o ne meia prac-
titioners o not come rom the meia orl itsel.
Sel-censorship ha let an entire generation o Ar-
abs on the outsie o this ne phenomenon looking
in hile the young generation orke an evel-
ope its ierent angles.
For some it starte as a hobby or orm o sel-
expression an quickly took on ae import:
A vieo o Egyptian police torture, shot as a
joke an ening up in the hans o blogger Wael
Abbas, hose posting o it change his lie an
career;
A businessman, Bahrains Mahmoo
Yousi, orking in technolgy an
tinkering ith Google Earth only to
iscover his on country an the
act that vast strips o lan inacces-sible to the housing-eprive public
ere available only to the rulers or
their hunting parties;
Te long-term research o North A-
rican blogger Sami be Gharbia ho,
in cooperation ith European colleagues, trace
the travel o a presiential plane at a time hen
the presient ocially never let the country.
While most o these early eorts ere iniviu-
al, some have been organize through a universitylike the American university o Cairo, a meia NGO
such as AmmanNet or a technology business like
Maktoob. A multi-language ebsite specializing
in reeom o expression, Menasset.com, has been
ell establishe.
Unettere by the strict controls o governments
or their surrogate publishers, the ne meia has
broken taboos, expose corruption an abuse an
alloe the Arab community at large to express it-
sel more reely than ever.
Unlike the U.S., here existing meia outlets
have put themselves in the oreront o the
ne meia buzz, most traitional Arab
meia outlets are lagging behin an un-
able to shake the shackles that they have
been born into an perpetuate. Success in
this ne meia el cannot be manipulat-
e, but must be earne by gaining a skepti-cal publics trust.
GOVERNMENTS IN A QUANDARY
Te Inormation Revolution has arrive
ith a vengeance in the Arab orl. Ne
technologies have levele the inormation
playing el orlie, limite only by the
restrictive practices o Arab governments.
Ruling regimes in the Arab orl have
chosen to tackle the issue simply by ien-tiying ne meia activists an punishing
them as an example to other preteners.
While a number o iniviuals have been
harasse an jaile, this tactic has aile to
eter the majority o ne meia content
creators an users.
It may ell have resulte only in more
an more ne meia activists hiing their
ientities by orking anonymously.
Te act that this ne meia is borer-
less means that it has been much more i-cult or governments to exercise control.
Government legislation int initially
eal ith the Web an it as icult or govern-
ments to punish a virtual meia outlet except by
creating an electronic ban or local users, a icult
an expensive process easily bypasse by clever
technical experts. Repressing the eb also ran con-
trary to attempts by many o the same governments
to take avantage o the economic benets o glo-
balization.
It put governments in a quanary, embracingthe ree fo o goos an services hile anting to
inhibit the ree fo o inormation.
FILTERINGWITH EMPATHY
AND SENSITIVITY
Te enless amounts o inormation that the ne
meia opportunities provie require a set o lters
to navigate an ecipher.
Major companies such as Yahoo, Google, an
Youube have a responsibility in the ay they eal
ith the Mile East that is going through the birth
(Kuttab, continued from page 1)
AN ENABLING TECHNOLOGYFOR IMPROVED CULTURAL
UNDERSTANDING
Possibilities for ArabU.S. cooperation in the
new media eld are many. The global nature of
the Net means that it can be leveraged to help
bring attention to, as well as use, this network to
campaign on behalf of jailed bloggers or restricted
online journalists.
Improved networking between Arab and
American online practitioners can help correct
faulty information, misleading analysis and cultural
stereotyping. The networking possibilities can help
both sides discover blind spots and work to correctthem in real time.
Moreover, journalists are always looking for
authentic voices, reliable sources and knowledgeable
contacts. The networking connections of online
media provides publishers with inexpensive
connections in various parts of the world and real-
time reactions from on-the-ground sources as news
events occur.D. Kuttab
pains o reorm. echnical robots alone cant over-
come some o the problems that can arise hen
ealing ith a region that is large, ierent an
highly volatile.
Te human element ill alays be central hen
ealing ith relations beteen iering an ener-
getic regions such as the U.S. an the Arab orl.
Te situation may call or a unique orm o U.S.
Arab cooperation in articulating, eveloping an
continually nurturing such an electronic lter thatcan help bring a level o creibility to the Net in the
eyes o Arab users an, at the same time, remove the
excuse rom Arab governments an their surrogates
ho are happy to pounce on this ne platorm us-
ing the abuses by a minority as their excuse.
Such ltering must be hanle ith the utmost
sensitivity so as not to give the impression o cen-
sorship or manipulation o a source o ree inor-
mation. It must avance reeom o expression, not
restrict it. It is, in short, a elicate balancing act.
dDaoud Kuttab, cuently
teaching at Pinceton Uni-
vesity, is a Palestinian
jounalist and media activ-
ist who helped establish the
ab Media Intenet Net-
wok (MIN) in 1995.
Justice is the oundaton o govenment
8/8/2019 Dead Sea Scrolling
9/12
Dead Sea Scrol ling 9
On any given ay, the social netorking siteFacebook connects long-lost riens an al-los you to poke attractive strangers you ish
oul be your riens. But in Egypt , Facebook is the
stage or the latest tist in the generation gap, play-
ing host to politically hungry young Egyptians eager
to take on their aging leaer.
Last May 4, Egyptian Presient Hosni Mubarak
turne 80. o mark the big ay or the man ho has
rule them or 26 years, Egyptians ho kne noother leaer an ho ere increasingly going on-
line to challenge him urge their compatriots to go
on strike, ear black, an rite No to Mubarak on
their money.
I kno all o this, not through nes stories,
but because activists publicize the etails an e-
mans o the strike on Facebook. I ont kno most
o my 724 riens on Facebook, but their messages
an their status upates have become invaluable to
meespecially my Facebook riens rom Egypt.
STRIKING DEMANDS
A group promoting the May 4 strike has almost
74,000 members, up rom about 60,000 a month
ago. Its emans are a minimum age, salary raises
linke to infation, an legislation an other mea-
sures to control prices. As amirable as those goals
are, I am just as in ae o the creativity that pours
into Facebook.
One Egyptian poste a rap song in colloquial
Arabic that soune as i it as recore at a coeeshopcomplete ith the soun o ater pipes an
Generation FacebookCreating Egypts Political Party of the Internet
By Mona Eltahawythe click-clack o teacups hitting saucers.
While the coee shop patrons rap lists the
countrys oes, pictures o t-shirts illustrate
the target o the song an the May 4 strike:
A black one tells Mubarak simply, It as a
black ay hen you arrive.
o unerstan ho rattle Mubaraks re-
gime is by the increasing popularity o hat
one young man calle the Political Party o
the Internet, look no urther than Egyptsqueen an king o Generation Facebook:
Esra Abel Fattah, 27, an Bilal Diab, 20.
Esra as etaine or more than three eeks
or orming a Facebook group calling Egyptians to
take part in an April 6 general strike. Her group col-
lecte more than 60,000 names. She as release
ater her mother personally appeale to Mubarak
an his ie.
What but esperation oul inspire a regime
ith 26 years uner its belt to etain a 27-year-ol
over a Facebook group?Tat as essentially hat Bilal tol Egyptian
Prime Minister Ahme Nazi hen the latter gave
a speech at Cairo University urging Egyptian youth
to go online to express themselves. Te stuent in-
terrupte the oler man to remin Nazi that there
ere several young Egyptians in jail or oing exact-
ly hat the premiere as calling or. Police promptly
hiske Bilal o or several hours, an turning him
into a hero or the inepenent meia. Te state-
one meia i their best to ignore him.
No oubt Esra an Bilals run-ins ith Mubaraks
security orces ere meant to teach their online co-
horts to sear o the internet. Not likely. We are
all Esra became the name o a popular group on
Facebook.
Young activists like Esra and Bilal are uniquely
positioned to step into the cracks that have widened
in Egypt lately: An aging dictator and his out-o-
touch cabinet are rumored to be the richest men
in Egypts modern history, at a time when spiraling
ood prices are grinding most Egyptians deeper intomisery. Recently, at least 11 people have died while
lining up or bread.
Another active Facebooker, Mohamme Abel
Hai, ho poste that rap song in support o the May 4
strike, tol a television sho host recently that he
turne to the internet out o sheer rustration. At
university he ante neither o the only to options
available: Mubaraks National Democratic Party
or the Muslim Brotherhoo, the political Islamist
movement that is Egypts largest opposition group.
Generation Facebook is the gochil o to im-portant evelopments that took o over the past
three years in Egypt: an increasingly bol blogging
movement an street activism.
In 2005, activists breache not just las against
public emonstrations but taboos against protesting
against Mubarak himsel, ith street protests that
ocuse on Egypt an its internal iscontents. But
that 2005 movement as criticize or being out o
touch ith the nees o orinary Egyptians an or
ailing to rally the masses.
Tis years internet-inspire activism has fippe
the scriptthe nees o the masses have sparkea ave o unpreceente activism among young
Egyptians.
VISUAL EMPATHY
When I aske my younger sister Nora, 21, hy she
joine the April 6 strike in Cairo, she sai atch-
ing people crying on television because they int
have 35 Egyptian pouns (less than $7) to ee their
amilies broke something in her. o o her r iens,
also omen in their early 20s, ere etaine or toays or taking part in a onton Cairo emon-
stration in support o the strike.
In 2005, the Keaya protest movement an the
Muslim Brotherhoo oul announce emonstra-
tions an hope orinary Egyptians oul join them.
No both those movements are joining the May 4
strike calle by the Facebook activists.
Te April 6 strike as sporaic an ocuse
mostly on the Nile Delta ton o Mahalla el-Kobra
here at least to people ere kille an more than
150 injure in to ays o rioting. A Facebook groupor the May 4 strike console Egyptians by remin-
ing them that Go create the orl in six ays.
We cant change Egypt in one ay.
Egypts Generation Facebook, unlike its octoge-
narian leaer, has time on its sie. d
Mona Eltahawy, a paticipant in seveal abU..
Media Foums, is a jounalist and commentato on
ab and Muslim issues. Tis aticle was pepaed
o he syndicate, genceGlobal.
8/8/2019 Dead Sea Scrolling
10/12
10 Dead Sea Scrol ling
I your sta is ell traine an ith goo re-
search backing you up an some legal protection,
then its very tough or governments to crack on,
remarke Rana Sabbagh, Amman-base irector
o the Arab Reporters or Investigative Journalism.
But i your sta is not ell traine, then youre justsening out suicie bombers.
Signicantly, the most important an commer-
cially successul o these Arab aggregators, Mak-
toob.com, as evelope in Joran, that Arab coun-
try ith the highest rate o computer literacy an
Internet application hose government is active in
boosting it.
Base on Web 2.0, Maktoob is no 70 percent
user prouce an counts a total o 700,000 blogs
in 22 countries. About 100 blogs are ae aily.
Maktoob is nancially successul as ell. But itsouner Sami oukan, a participant at the Dea Sea
conerence, sees a clouy uture. Te promise o
the Internet is uner threat, he tol the conerence
participants. Te ream o one Internet orl is
being ashe. Were ghting a holing action ith
governments no.
OLD REPTILES AND NEW BIRDS
All meia analysts talk o convergence. Te group
gathere at the Dea Sea as no exception. Te
normal ieaconvergence beteen types o me-
iaas expane by participants to convergence
among those ho practice ierent meia ays an
means. Are the journalist an the blogger merging
into one?
Te ArabU.S. Meia Forum participants ell
into to camps regaring hether ne meia ac-
tivists can truly claim proessional journalist status
as compare to hat one calle iarists. Tere as
no isagreement, hoever, that the meia rules are
changing almost aster than those engage can re-
act or attach labels to themselves.
Internet access not only makes possible inter-
activity beteen users, but also altogether ne ap-proaches to the who, whys an hows o inormation
elivery. Until the present, the spee o onloa-
ing inormation has alays exceee the spee o
uploaing, as a unction o supply an eman. Tis
is beginning to change as bloggers plant an see
inormation at unpreceente rates.
(Snow, continued from page 4) Still, ull convergence o the time-honore pro-
essional journalist ho relies on long-cultivate
sources or insie inormation hile utilizing trai-
tional print an broacast orms, an the ne bree
o cyberspace activist, an open-source citizen surer
iarist, is neither imminent nor inevitable.
As one evolutionary-oriente orum participantaptly put it, No one is asking bloggers to come in at
10:00 in the morning an rink ba coee. Tere is
too much ierence beteen the ne an the ol.
Its a matter o Darin, ith ol reptiles an ne
birs. d
Cocke now J., ounding
edito o Te WorldPaper,
is diecto o the Edwad R.
Muow Cente o public
Diplomacy at the Fletche
chool.
A known total of 64 c itizen bloggers unafliated with news
organizations were arrested by authoritarian regimes around the
world last year, three times the 2006 total, according to the latest
World Information Access Report.
One-third of those arrested were in the Arab Middle East, in the
study prepared by researchers at the University of Washington.
The growing number of arrests is driving many citizen
bloggers underground to blog anonymously on MySpace or
YouTube, according to Phil Howard, an assistant professor of
communications who led the research team.
The rising arrest numbers reect the growing number of
citizens who blog internationally and increased recognition among
authoritarian governments that citizen bloggers cause problems.
By targeting non-professional journalists who express themselves
online, authoritarian governments can promote fear among Internet
users, Howard says.
Citizen bloggers arrested typically were exposing bureaucratic
corruption, human rights abuses or expressing opinions about
political gures and public policy according to the study authors. By
contrast, blogger arrests in democratic countries typically involve
pornography postings or inciting racial hatred.
Source: World Information Access Project, www.wiareport.org, 2008.
Blogging Activities Total 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 20081st Q
Using blog to organize orcover social protest
15 China (4) Egypt, Iran Burma (2), China, Egypt (4), Iran Egypt
Violating cultural norms 14 Singapore (3)Egypt, Greece,
USAChina, Egypt (2), Hong Kong, India,
PhilippinesEgypt, UK
Posting comments about
public policy12 France
Iran (2),
TunisiaEgypt, Iran
Fiji, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi
Arabia, Syria, ThailandSyria
Exposing corruption orhuman rights violations
9 Iran China (3), Tunisia Burma
Other reason, or noreason given
8Canada, China,
SyriaChina, Egypt, Fiji, Malaysia,
Thailand, USA (2)
Posting comments aboutpolitical gures
6 Iran Egypt Egypt, Iran, Kuwait, Russia
Total Number of Cases 64 5 2 7 10 35 5
Citizen Bloggers: Apprehended and Under Arrest
8/8/2019 Dead Sea Scrolling
11/12
Dead Sea Scrol ling 11
Wael Abbas
Editor in Chief, Misr Digit@l
Ali Abunimah
Co-Founder, Electronicintifada.net
Her Royal Highness Princess Rym Ali
The Royal Hashemite Court of Jordan
Jed Alpert
Co-founder and Chief Executive Ofcer
Mobile Commons, Inc.
Osama Al-Sharif
Columnist,Ad-Dustour, Amman
Mahmood N. Al-Yousif
Managing Director, Gulf Broadcast &Professional Systems
Merrill BrownFounder & Principal, MMB Media LLC
Lynn Brucker
Director Corporate Strategy, Luminus Group
Jamal Dajani
Director of Middle Eastern Programming
LinkTV and Mosaic
Khaled Dawoud
Correspondent,Al Jazeera
Akram Farag
Executive Committee Member,O-Media Holdings, Ltd.
Charles M. Firestone
Executive Director, Communications and SocietyProgram, The Aspen Institute
Joshua S. Fouts
Chief Global Strategist
Dancing Ink Productions
Amy K. Garmer
Director of Journalism Projects
Communications and Society Program
The Aspen Institute
Mohamed Gohar
Chairman, Video Cairo Sat
Walter Isaacson
President and Chief Executive Ofcer
The Aspen Institute
Moukhtar Kocache
Program Ofcer, Middle East and
North Africa, Ford Foundation
Daoud Kuttab
Founder, AmmanNet, and Professor of Journalism
Princeton University
Monika Lengauer
Deputy Director, Jordan Media Institute
Caroline Little
Chief Executive Ofcer and Publisher
Washingtonpost Newsweek Interactive
Mirette F. Mabrouk
Associate Director for Publishing Operations
The American University in Cairo Press
Betsy Morgan
Chief Executive Ofcer, Hufngton Post
Nermeen Murad
Director, Jordan Media Institute
Lawrence Pintak
Director, Adham Center for Electronic JournalismThe American University in Cairo
Monroe Price
Annenberg School for Communication
University of Pennsylvania
Rana Sabbagh
Executive Director, Arab Reporters forInvestigative Journalism
Calvin G. Sims
Program OfcerNews Media
Media, Arts & Culture, Ford Foundation
Barbara Slavin
Senior Fellow, U.S. Institute of Peace
Crocker Snow
Founding Editor The World Paper, and
Director, Edward R. Murrow Center,The Fletcher School
Samih Toukan
Chief Executive Ofcer, Maktoob.com
Staff
Kate AishtonProject Manager, Communicationsand Society ProgramThe Aspen Institute
PARTICIPANTS
Seated: Rana Sabbagh, Mahmood Al-Yousif, Her Royal Highness Princess Rym, Walter Isaacson, Betsy Morgan, Daoud Kuttab; Standing (front row):
Moukhtar Kocache, Mirette Mabrouk, Jamal Dajani, Joshua Fouts, Charlie Firestone, Merrill Brown, Akram Farag, Mohamed Gohar, Khaled Dawoud
Standing (back row): Osama Al-Sharif, Lawrence Pintak, Calvin Sims, Ali Abunimah, Barbara Slavin, Crocker Snow Jr., Jed
Alpert, Caroline Little, Wael Abbas, Monroe Price, Nermeen Murad, Samih Toukan, Monika Lengauer, Amy Garmer.
8/8/2019 Dead Sea Scrolling
12/12
Communications & Society Program
109 houghton lab lan e
Queenstown, md 21658
Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage
PAIDPermit No. 3
Queenstown, MD
for arab media
w Minimize legislation governingcontent, maximize eectiveaccess to inormation anremove criminal penalties or
eamation an the expressiono opinion.
w Push or ier Internet accessat loer cost an ithoutgovernment intererence ithusers. Encourage a regionalombusman or the service anprotection o Arab bloggers.
w Support eucationalenterprises or meia an
journalism; ientiy, encouragean celebrate champion nemeia eneavors.
An Oasis of RecommendationsThe Dead Sea dialoguelike the annual ArabU.S. Media Forums before it that
took place in Luxor, Dubai and the Wye Plantation in Maryland starting in February
2004focused on practical approaches for improving media performance in coveringculturally and politicallly sensitive Arab and American issues. Participants divided into
three working groups with mixed Arab and American members to advance ideas to
help fulll the Forum's purpose. The recommendations for establishing a Facebook
page to facilitate continuing dialogue among participants has been followed.
CR EDI TS
The ArabU.S. Media Forum was
conceived by the Ford Foundation,
Cairo, in the aftermath of 9/11
and supported by grants from the
Ford Foundation with additionalsupport initially from the William
and Flora Hewlett Foundations. It
is organized by the Aspen Institute
Communications and Society
Program, headed by Charles Firestone
with assistance from Amy Garmer,
director of Journalism Projects.
The 2008 Forum took place in
partnership with the Jordan Media
Institute (JMI) with additionalfunding from the Luminus Group
with SAE Institute, Amman.
Dead Sea Scrolling was prepared
and edited by Forum participant
Crocker Snow Jr. with editorial
assistance from Daoud Kuttab.
Design by Sid Hall of Hobblebush
Books and printing by Puritan Press
of Hollis, N.H.
The Media Forum is an ongoing
initiative. To learn more, visit www
.aspeninstitute.org/c&s
for u.s. media
w Provie links touseul Arab ebsites,encourage visibilityor Arab bloggers
by compiling list ocontacts or U.S. meiaoutlets.
w Develop FAQproucts or American
journalists ritingabout the Mile East.
w Encourage engagementin internationalor regional
igital journalismorganizations like OPAan ONA.
for bridging cultures
w Promote traitional journalism revieonline eaturing ino exchanges amongArab an U.S. journalists, critiques,best practices, reeom o press,
training an relate proessional issues.
w Establish Facebook eature or Araban American journalism participantsesigne by top U.S. online architectsater meeting together to ork upmost appealing an appropriate esign.
w Create avatar-enable three-imensional eature to acilitate viralmeetings o Arab an U.S. citizen
journalists to encourage empathy anputting onesel in the others time anspace.