Featured Articles
Cosmopolitan Islamism and its Critics

Maurice Chammah analyzes the thinking behind the Islam-oriented music television channel 4Shbab, noting contradictions in its vision of the interaction between Islam and the West. He looks at the audience which 4Shbab assumes already exists and the audience which it hopes to create, and discusses Western media reactions to the project.
Islamic Televangelism: Religion, Media and Visuality in Contemporary Egypt

Yasmin Moll writes on visual aspects of the phenomenon of Islamic televangelism, arguing that: “a consideration of contemporary media practices in Islam invites us to expand our definition of what the visual might be and what acts of seeing might entail.”
Financial Crisis in the UAE - A Paralysis of Analysis
The financial crisis in the United Arab Emirates has tested the limits of media freedom in the country, and many of the participants, especially government and the media, have fallen short..Sam Potter describes how the local press in the UAE has handled the financial crisis and wonders how long the practice of self-censorship can continue when alternative sources of information are so readily available
Crunching the Numbers, Breaking the News
Alaa Shahine reviews the state of financial reporting in the Middle East and finds that below the radar screen it has seen some rapid changes as individuals turn to investing
Turkish soap operas in the Arab world
Alexandra Buccianti looks at the Turkish soap opera phenomenon as a successful model of hybridization and sets it against the background of Turkey's historical role in the Arab world
Imagining Identities: Television Advertising and the Reconciliation of the Lebanese Conflict
Assem Nasr discusses how in Lebanon, the Arab country where identity is most contested, advertisers have constructed a new cosmopolitan and sterilized identity that transcends the ideological and religious differences prevalent in the real world.
Iraq: A Diverse Media
David A. Rousu argues that Iraq now qualifies as having a diverse media, despite some government ownership and occasional instances in which the authorities have used legal provisions against media organizations .
Cyber infidelity in Egypt’s virtual world
Ingrid Wassman reports on the effects the Internet, satellite television, and other cyber technologies are having on marriage, relationships, and gender interaction in Egypt’s traditionally conservative society
Defining the Boundaries of Acceptable Speech in Syria
Leah Caldwell looks at the travails of Syrian cleric Abdul Rahman Kuki and what his trial means for what public figures in Syria can say, and what indeed they must say
Saudi Arabia and Iran: The Tale of Two Media Covering Conflict in Yemen
Anne Hagood says that at least on the media front Iran and Saudi Arabia have been fighting a proxy war in northern Yemen, taking advantage of the Houthi rebellion to promote their political visions to the detriment of their geostrategic competitors.
Conflicting Information Strategies in the 2006 Lebanese War
Lorenza Fontana looks at how Hezbollah and Israel handled the media in the 2006 war
The Gaza War, Theater and the Big Interview
Wayne Hunt looks at media aspects of the Gaza conflict between December 2008 and January 2009, and specifically at Caryl Churchill's controversial 10-minute play entitled Seven Jewish Children – a play about Gaza. Then he speculates about an 'interview' drama to be called Frost Osama.
Shereen El Feki on two books by Marwan Kraidy
Shereen El Feki reviews Arab Television Industries by Marwan Kraidy and Joe F. Khalil, and Reality Television and Arab Politics: contention in public life, also by Marwan M. Kraidy
Book review - Aaron Wenner on (Un)Civil War of Words
Aaron Wenner reviews (Un)Civil War of Words: Media and Politics in the Arab World by Mamoun Fandy, concluding that it is an interesting and timely argument for a more nuanced understanding of the political and social role of Arab media, but would be much stronger if it had more specific case studies, a clearer conception of its terms, and a more precise focus.
Commentary - the move away from big pan-Arab channels
Mourad Haroutunian shares his thoughts on the many reasons why Arab audiences have being moving away from the big pan-Arab news channels towards nation-based television channels, especially those offering sports, movies and other forms of entertainment.
Commentary - censorship and the Arab Media Forum in Bahrain
Sheyma Buali, after attending the annual Arab Media Forum in Bahrain, comments on the elephant in the room that many participants were reluctant to address
For the record - US House of Representatives resolution on Middle East broadcasters
The complete text of U.S. House of Representatives resolution 2278, which would penalize satellite providers that contract with broadcasters such as al-Manar and al-Aqsa. The US Senate has not yet acted on the resolution
