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No.
12, Spring 2004
No.
11, Fall 2003
No. 10,
Spring 2003
No. 9, Fall 2002
No. 8,
Spring 2002
No. 7, Fall 2001
No.
6, Spring 2001
No.
5, Fall 2000
No.
4, Spring 2000
No. 3,
Fall 1999
No. 2,
Spring 1999
No. 1,
Fall 1998
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TBS TO GO HARD COPY
EXPLORING THE GULF SATELLITE MAP
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Meanwhile, Humphrey Davies was in Dubai, where he met the people responsible for the recent major make-over of Dubai TV and dropped in on CNBC Arabiya to hear about their re-launch. For his report, see Dubai: Watch This Space! He also talked to CNBC Arabiya CEO Zafar Siddiqi about his plans for CNBC Pakistan.
DOMES AND DISHES:
ARAB SATELLITE TV AND RELIGION
| Photo by Daina Moussa |
Lindsay Wise interviews Ahmad al-Farrag, one of the pioneers of religious television programming and the discoverer of Egypt's star TV preacher, the late Sheikh al-Shaarawi. Wise also writes on Amr Khaled, star of the younger generation of Muslim "tele-Islamists," while S. Abdallah Schleifer interviews Yusuf al-Qaradawi, doyen of "Islamist" preachers. Maha Shahba discusses the televised exposure given to charismatic convert Hamza Yusuf, while Amina Khairy's brief report on hip religious singer Sami Yusif demonstrates that even the music satellites give religion its due, at least in Ramadan.
In The Proposed Satellite Television Channel of the Organziation of the Islamic Conference: A Response to Moral Panic?, Ali Al-Hail argues that the 2001 proposal of the Organization of the Islamic Conference mandating the establishment of an English-language Islamic satellite channel (still to be implemented) is fundamentally flawed--a notion implicitly challenged by the late Abdul Qader Tash, whose article Islamic Satellite Channels and Their Impact on Arab Society: Iqra Channel - a Case Study describes the challenges and achievements of the Arabic-language Islamic channel he founded.
DEMOCRACY LIVE:
VOTING FOR PRESIDENTS AND SUPERSTARS
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Arab satellite channels devoted considerable effort to keeping their viewers abreast of developments in the US presidential election race and informing them as to the nature of the American electoral system. Lindsay Wise and Usama Najeeb watched and recorded their impressions of Arab Satellite Coverage of the US Elections. They also interviewed Hafiz Al Mirazi, head of Al Jazeera's Washington bureau, on his network's coverage.
Though some viewers in the region may feel wistful about their own chances of participation in such a process, they can take their destiny in their own hands when it comes to selecting pop idols at least; in The Best Hope for Democracy in the Arab World? Tyler MacKenzie describes how the residents of Damascus voted for Arab pop's next Superstar.
THE VIOLENT IMAGE:
NEWS,
SENSATIONALISM, OR PROPAGANDA?
| Picasso's "Guernica" |
As news bulletins
report daily on mayhem and terror in Iraq and elsewhere, satellite channels
grope to define the thin line that separates the acceptable from the offensive,
and the reporting of information from the encouragement of political violence.
In Made for Television Events, Jon
Alterman discusses what drives political kidnappers in Iraq, and Simon
Buck's The Pressures of 24 Hour News
takes the Beslan hostage-taking tragedy as its starting point, while in
To Show or Not to Show? Graphic Images in TV
Media Paul Cochrane reviews the principles and praxis of
a number of stations.
The section concludes with a plea by Judea and Ruth Pearl, parents
of Daniel Pearl, entitled No More Public Murders,
which includes an appeal to the media to exercise "responsible judgment"
in publishing terrorist messages and imagery.
ISSUES AND DEVELOPMENTS
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Balancing Act: UAE Satellite TV Channels Between National and Pan-Arab Markets: Jihad Fakhreddine analyzes the failure of Gulf satellite channels to maximize advertising revenue.
NourSat,
the New Satellite in the East: Chris
Forrester describes Mawared Group's attempts to promote a new Hot
Spot for Middle East pay-TV channels.
Blending
in: Arab Television and the Search for Programming Ideas: Joe
Khalil reviews a number of strategies adopted by producers in the
Arab World to entertain their audiences, from inspiration and licensing
to "cloning."
US International Broadcasting Strategies in the Arab World: An Analysis of the Broadcasting Board of Governors' Strategy from a Public Communication Standpoint: Wendy Feliz Sefsaf critiques the US government's attempts to improve its image in the Arab World by launching its own TV and radio channels.
Streaming Video: A New Era in TV Broadcasting: Usama Najeeb describes a new technology that looks set to revolutionize TV broadcasting.
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News
Xchange '04, Algarve, Portugal
18-19 November 2004
Keynote
Address by King Abdallah of Jordan.
The Diversity of Arab Media. Transcript of a panel chaired by Emad Eldin Adeeb with senior analyst S. Abdallah Schleifer, featuring Nart Bouran (Abu Dhabi TV), Joel Campagna (Committee to Protect Journalists), Mohamed Gohar (Video CairoSat), Mouafac Harb (Alhurra), Ibrahim Helal (BBC Trust), Wadah Khanfar (Al Jazeera), Ibrahim Mousawi (Al Manar), Salah Negm (Al Arabiya), Nahida Nakad (TF1), and Hosam El-Sokkari (BBC World Service).
Conference
Report by Morand Fachot.
The
Cambridge Arab Media Project: The Media and Political Change in the Arab
World, Moller Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge, UK
29-30 September 2004
Conference
Report: Between
Theory and Practice by Lindsay Wise.
(A revised and extended version of the paper delivered by Wise at this
conference appears elsewhere in this issue. See Amr
Khaled: Broadcasting the Nahda.)
Keynote Address.
Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat professor for Peace and Development
at the University of Maryland, reports on findings from his public opinion
surveys in the Arab world about viewing habits and their impact on political
positions.
Thoughts on Arab Satellite Television, Pan-Arabism, and Freedom of Expression. Saad Eddin Ibrahim reflects on what the Arab world as whole, and he personally, owe to the independence of Arab satellites.
Remarks in Response to Saad Eddin Ibrahim: Ibrahim Helal, Al Jazeera's former editor-in-chief, provides a frank assessment of what Arab satellite broadcasters can, and cannot, achieve.
Arab Satellite Broadcasting: An Alternative to Political Parties? Kai Hafez discusses the potential of Arab satellite channels to act as forces for democracy in non-democratic societies.
Arab Women in the New Media: Empowerment or Disempowerment? Shereen Abou El Naga questions whether Arab satellites have managed to find a positive new way to present women.
On the Role of Media in the Current Transition Phase in Iraq: Iqbal Hassoon al-Qazwini reviews the status and needs of satellite and other media in Iraq today.
The
Ninth International Conference of the Arab-US Association for Communication
Educators (AUSACE), Cairo
18-21 November 2004
Conference Report by Naila Hamdy
International
Academy for Media Science (IAMS):
Arab Satellites in a Changing World, Cairo
22-24
June 2004
Conference
Report by Ibrahim Saleh.
The
58th Annual Middle East Institute (MEI) Conference: "The
Use and Limits of Power in the Middle East,"
Washington, D.C.
5-6 October 2004
Media Diplomacy: Who
Controls the Control Room?
Conference Report
by Derek Hoffmann
DEPARTMENTS
Books:
Book Essay
War Correspondent
Memoirs Personalize Conflict
By Ralph D. Berenger, Book Reviews Editor
Books
in Brief
Al-Jaber, Khaled The Credibility of Arab Broadcasting: The Case
of Al Jazeera. Doha: National Council for Culture, Arts and Heritage,
2004. Hard cover. 118 pages. ISBN: 99921-25-26-3. No price listed.
Reviewed by Ralph D. Berenger
DeFleur, Melvin L.
and Margaret H. Learning to Hate Americans. Spokane, WA: Marquette
Books, 2003. 128 pages. Paperback. ISBN 0-922993-05-X. $29.95.
Reviewed by Sahar Sedky
Elasmar, Michael G.
The Impact of International Television: A Paradigm Shift. Mahwah,
NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2003. Paperback. 212 pages. ISBN: 0-8058-4220-9.
$25.
Reviewed by Lamees M. El Baghdady
Hills, Jill The
Struggle for Control of Global Communication: The Formative Century.
Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2002. 327 pages. Hard cover.
ISBN 0-252-02757-4. $39.95.
Reviewed by Aliaa Dawoud
Kilani, Sa'eda Freedom
Fries: Fried Freedoms, Arab Satellite Channels Struggle between State
Control and Western Pressure. Amman: Arab Archive Institute, 2004.
Paperback. 233 pages. ISBN:
892-4-2004. No price listed. Reviewed by Rasha El-Ibiary
Pelton, Joseph N.,
Robert J. Oslund, and Peter Marshall (eds.) Communication Satellites:
Global Change Agents. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004.
Paperback. 387 pages. ISBN 080-5-8496-29. $39.95.
Reviewed by Effat Khalifa
Sakr, Naomi (ed.)
Women and Media in the Middle East: Power Through Self-expression.
London: I.B. Tauris, 2004. Paperback. 248 pages. ISBN: 185-04-3545-6.
$ 27.50.
Reviewed by Ralph D. Berenger
Resource
Documents:
TBS initiates a series
of papers from the archives of the industry that cast light on critical
moments and themes in its history.S. Abdallah Schleifer's MMDS
and the New Satellite Television Technologies: A Media Explosion in the
Arab World covers in detail the origins of Arab satellite television.
Technical
Review:
In
New Generation Camcorders Michael
Murrie reviews equipment that may be useful if you are a videographer
and have to capture "an expected brief event such as the launch of
a rocket or artillery fire."
Iraq-bound journalists read on....
The
Far Side of the Satellite:
Two
documentary film makers meditate on images of war: Not
Every Picture Tells a Story by Errol Morris and The
Dark Desert Night is Alight: The Impact of War Visuals on Television
Viewers and Print Readers by Shems Friedlander.
Satellite
Chronicles:
TBS continues its month-by-month
record of events in the Arab and Islamic satellite worlds as reported
in the press for the period May
to November 2004.
Calendar:
TBS
lists conferences and meetings of interest for the
coming twelve months, with links.
Regional
Broadcasting Resources:
TBS provides links to regional
media websites.
TBS is published by the Adham Center for Television Journalism, the American University in Cairo and the Middle East Centre, St. Antony's College, University of Oxford, UK
E-mail: TBS@aucegypt.edu