7/19/2008

Arab Media Perspectives

Posted by Andrew |

Below is a great article from the New York Times on reporting in the Middle East and a survey of journalists in the region.

The original article can be found here.

May 25, 2008
Op-Chart
Misreading the Arab Media
By LAWRENCE PINTAK, JEREMY GINGES and NICHOLAS FELTON

“ARABIC TV does not do our country justice,” President Bush complained in early 2006, calling it a purveyor of “propaganda” that “just isn’t right, it isn’t fair, and it doesn’t give people the impression of what we’re about.”

The president’s statement, along with the decision by the New York Stock Exchange to ban Al Jazeera’s reporters in 2003, is a prime example of how the Arab news media have been demonized since the 9/11 attacks. As a result, America has failed to make use of what is potentially one of its most powerful weapons in the war of ideas against terrorism.

For proof, in the last year we surveyed 601 journalists in 13 Arab countries in North Africa, the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula. The results, to be published in The International Journal of Press/Politics in July, shatter many of the myths upon which American public diplomacy strategy has been based.

Rather than being the enemy, most Arab journalists are potential allies whose agenda broadly tracks the stated goals of United States Middle East policy and who can be a valuable conduit for explaining American policy to their audiences. Many see themselves as agents of political and social change who believe it is their mission to reform the antidemocratic regimes they live under. When asked to name the top 10 missions of Arab journalism, they cited political reform, human rights, poverty and education as the most important issues facing the region, trumping Palestinian statehood and the war in Iraq. Overwhelmingly, they wanted the clergy to stay out of politics. And, aside from the ever-present issue of Israel, they ranked “lack of political change” alongside American policy as the greatest threats to the Arab world.

Though many Arab journalists dislike the United States government, more than 60 percent say they have a favorable view of the American people. They just don’t believe the United States is sincere when it calls for Arab democratic reform or a Palestinian state, as President Bush did again this month in Egypt.

Make no mistake, the Arab press has many flaws, including being subject to state control; only 26 percent of our respondents said they felt their fellow Arab journalists “act professionally” and only 11 percent said they were truly independent in their work. Nevertheless, Arab news outlets are more powerful and free today than at any time in history. If the next administration is going to try to reach out to the Arab people, it won’t get far by blaming the messenger.

Lawrence Pintak is the director of the Kamal Adham Center for Journalism Training and Research at the American University in Cairo and the author of “Reflections in a Bloodshot Lens: America, Islam and the War of Ideas.” Jeremy Ginges is an assistant professor of psychology at the New School for Social Research. Nicholas Felton is a graphic designer in Brooklyn.


Thoughts

It is interesting for me to hear these findings as they confirm a lot of the conversations and experiences I have had in the region. I've met with a few editors and reporters from Al-Jazeera and Al-Nahar and their thoughts generally line up with this survey. Most of the reporters are rather elite and liberal and are as comfortable schmoozing in the coffee shops of London and Paris as they are in Beirut or Cairo. In addition, they are by no means ultra-conservative Muslims who are hateful of anything related to the West simply because it is Western, rather they are highly educated, pious and unpious, conservative and liberal people who both love and hate different elements of the United States and Europe.

Secondly, I complete agree with the authors that the United States needs to reform its attempts to reach out to the Arab world through media. Al-Hurra and Al-Sawa are frankly, large wastes of US tax dollars. Al-Sawa's minimal popularity stems from the Western pop music it plays a good portion of the time, and Al-Hurra is nothing but a mouthpiece for the US administration with a number of amazingly simple and stupid mistakes committed since its inception (For example, starting newscasts on Easter stating "Hallelujah, the Lord has risen today" (paraphrased quote), except their audience is 90-odd percent Muslim).

The U.S. should take tips from France in this regard by establishing a greater number of cultural centers offering English instruction and American cultural events, something that nearly all Arabs would be interested in taking. Government-funded media channels in the region need to reevaluate their priorities and present information from a more nuanced and less pro-American perspective, even if it is funded by the U.S. Government. Arabs are not stupid, they know when they are being fed propaganda.

2 comments:

Julia Riber Pitt said...

Well, that's why we need Aljazeera English on basic cable TV alongside CNN and Fox (Faux) News.

4:56 AM  
Bruce Kratky said...

According to the survey 74% of the reporters are unethical in the view of the other 26%. Also, the perception is that 89% of their collegues are "in the bag with their governments." Andrew, those are staggering numbers. Based upon this it suggests that President Bush's perspective that the Arabic media is some how "not fair" to the United States could very well be 89% accurate. We need to find a way to get our message out better. But, what is our message? The reality would seem to be that we don't have just one message. Our freedom allows for and creates many mixed messages. Perhaps this is one of the causes of great consternation in the Islamic world. "How can you call yourselves Christians and allow or promote pornography...and the like?" The monolythic actions of the Chinese government to eliminate air polution for the Olympic games is absolutely amazing. Odd numbered plates drive M,W,F. Even numbered plates drive T,Th,Sat. No one moves on Sunday. Can you imagine that happening in the United States in any situation other than martial law? Even then it would be a tough sell. We have no such ability to control our populace. To someone in a more totalitarian state China's actions could very well be appreciated and understood, yes, and even praised. One wonders whether China is able to get to the root of the matter though in the long run. Totalitarian states are notoriously reactionary. We need clean air in August..."make it so, Number One." Who cares about September. When you have a media that is potentially 89% controlled by totalitarian governments, who specialize in reactionary processes, it seems the chances of getting nuanced messages across by them is limited. Perhaps the individual and relationship based process is the real hope. Having Andrew's in the world to help broker the relationships, explain nuance, and create trust may take a long time, but may be the only hope.

How is it that France factors into helping the U.S. solve its cultural abiss with the Arabic and Islamic worlds? It seems that they struggle with this more than America does. Reports abounded during and after the riots two years ago. The challenge in France is percieved to be one where France is either failing to culturize people of Muslim heritage, or on the other hand, people of Muslim background refusing to be culturized. Though my perspective is that the later is more true than the former, it seems that Muslim populations in the U.S. are much more "climatized" to our culture than they would be if they lived in France. It could be that the history of the U.S. being made up of immigrants plays a big role in this process and our percieved success. Yet, we are frequently accosted by events such as the mullahs in Minneapolis who demanded special treatment for themselves and accused others of prejudice when they, the mullahs, broke out into devout prayers to Allah at the boarding gate. When passengers refused to fly with this group those passengers and the airline were accused of irrational fear of "Godly people." The pressure is always flowing the west's way. The west "must learn." The west "must change." And the perspective is that "the west" is one and can monolythically change if it only sees the truth, or its leaders "get it."

It is amazing, and I can easily get angry, when there is an attempt made and the effort to the Islamic world is "Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed." That I have no explanation for other than it is someones bad joke, a CIA plot, or it was Jim Baker of the old PTL Club trying to redeem himself after the Herritage debochle. Who knows?

One must get back to the "levers of power." Regardless of what an individual may believe he or she can change little in the short run when the levers of power are moving in an opposite direction. This is the main reason I would never vote for Barack Obama as I care not for those who, in the Democratic Party, desire to pull levers. Their over all philosophy of government and mine are polar opposites. I would not have voted for President Bush if he had been running as a Democrat regardless of his faith. Likewise there is difficulty in dealing with many culturally Islamic nations and totalitarian states, not because the "people" have it wrong, but because of the nature of the people who pull the levers of power. Whether it is media power, police, or military power, those who have the juice...they control.

12:12 AM  

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