Dead Sea Scrolling

8/8/2019 Dead Sea Scrolling

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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.


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


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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


4/12


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


5/12


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-


6/12


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


7/12


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


8/12


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


9/12


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.


10/12


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


11/12


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.


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.

Dead Sea Scrolling

Documents

Transcript of Dead Sea Scrolling