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“Huge need for independent media” in Middle East: AmmanNet founder Daoud Kuttab

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Pintak: You’ve been around for a while, I can say that because we’re about the same age, you’ve seen a lot of changes in Arab media.  How optimistic are you about the direction of Arab media today?

Kuttab: If I was optimistic it’s not because the powers that be are really changing, it’s because technology has provided a platform for people to break through and break out of the systems that exist in their countries.  So I think the more successful we are in using technology to break up monopolies, I think governments will give up on their attempts to deny people their inherent right to know and to let know.  I’m optimistic because of that.  The Arab World has a majority of young people, people under 21, and these people have grown up with technology literacy that is quite high, they can now use their computers, their laptops, their cellphones, and governments are not able to stop people communicating with all this technology.

Pintak: Daoud Kuttab, founder and chief of AmmanNet, thank you very much.

         

         

 

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