Project on Middle East Democracy

Project on Middle East Democracy
The POMED Wire Archives


Category: US media

Tunisia: Reactions After the Fall of Ben Ali

January 18th, 2011 by Kyle

Michele Penner Angrist addressed the future of democracy in Tunisia stating, “Ben Ali suffocated the political arena to such a degree that there is no force capable of governing Tunisia other than the ruling party and the military.” Angrist also discussed the implications of the lack of US involvement in Tunisia’s unrest and the future of other Arab regimes, “Were the regimes in Egypt or Jordan on the line, Western support for the status quo might well be more vigorous.” Stephen M. Walt believes that we should be careful to quickly assume that Tunisia will be the catalyst for political change across the region. Daniel Brumberg agrees with Walt, but remains hopeful for progressive reform in the region if a functioning, pluralistic democracy can be established in TunisiaThomas Carothers asserted that although the United States did very little to press Tunisia on democracy and human rights issues there is now potential for meaningful action, “Washington and other Western capitals should press now to get specific commitments from the new Tunisian leadership that not only will elections be held, but that they will be meaningful.”


Posted in Protests, Reform, Tunisia, US foreign policy, US media | Comment »

Egypt: Eissa Says Obama Not Pressuring Mubarak on Media Freedom

November 10th, 2010 by Anna

In an interview with David Lepeska in the Columbia Journalism Review, Egyptian journalist Ibrahim Eissa notes that in an effort to control  Al Dostor, the government has filed lawsuits, imprisoned Eissa, and threatened the paper’s publishers with millions of pounds in taxes. After finally taking over the paper, Al Dostor is now “a pet newspaper.” He states that although there was a period of increasing media freedom in Egypt during the Bush administration, “Now the Egyptian government seems to have gotten the green light from the Obama administration to go back to the way they were before.” In “not pressuring Mubarak at all,” Obama ignores the possibility that “society is going to implode on itself and destroy those regimes.”

Regarding the upcoming elections, Eissa says: “[m]y sense is there’s going to be a lot of fraud.” He also predicts that Western media outlets will not be allowed to access polling stations during the upcoming parliamentary elections, a strategy that the regime will likely repeat during the presidential race next year. Without an independent media, Egyptians cannot hold their government accountable, and since opposition parties in Egypt “do not speak out,” the media has taken on that role. “The people want change,” Eissa says, but politicians are not pushing for it.

For more news and analysis on Egypt, sign up for the Egypt Daily Update.


Posted in Democracy Promotion, Egypt, Elections, Freedom, Journalism, Political Parties, US foreign policy, US media | Comment »

Iran: Battling for Hearts and Minds Through Media

October 5th, 2010 by Jason

In a new article in the Foreign Service JournalRobert McMahon explores the ongoing efforts of American broadcasters to  reach Iranians, even as the regime expands pressure on independent media. Voice of America’s Persian News Network satellite TV station and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s (RFE/RL) Radio Farda–two broadcasters funded by Congress–have been expanding their reach into social media. “The regime denounces these media efforts as a ’soft war’ waged by outside forces and has responded by mounting one of the world’s most intense censorship efforts: jamming broadcasts, blocking  Web sites and infiltrating Facebook accounts,” McMahon writes. The on going diplomatic standoff between Iran and the US makes the efforts of these broadcasters even more important according to McMahon.

While the utilization of social media is a key to connecting with the young people in a country where there are “tens of thousands” of active blogs, McMahon adds that new challenges are developing in that area: “Larry Diamond, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, writes in the July edition of the Journal of Democracy of a growing competition worldwide between democrats and autocrats over mastery of what has been called ‘liberation technology.’” The Iranian government has adapted by setting up pro-regime blogs and disrupting websites that they feel challenge their authority, including the websites of two prominent clerics. .

VOA and RFE/RL also face challenges from policy makers in the US who are skeptical about their effectiveness, McMahon adds. The broadcasters, however, are constantly adapting to new technologies to amplify their message to the Iranian people. McMahon ends the article by providing several recommendations: “Keep a close eye on internal developments in Iran and in the region, and vet reports to keep news stories accurate, not inflammatory, […] (s)ustain efforts to overcome jamming of core radio and TV services,” and “(p)ursue a vigorous effort to gather more and better data about how Iranians are accessing information.”


Posted in Civil Society, Freedom, Iran, Journalism, Middle Eastern Media, Technology, US foreign policy, US media | Comment »

Iraq: Reactions to President Obama’s Speech

September 1st, 2010 by Jason

Last night, President Barack Obama gave a speech from the Oval Office that declared the end of combat operations in Iraq (transcript). Reactions to the speech were varied. At Commentary, Jennifer Rubin describes the President’s reiteration of the deadline for withdrawal in Afghanistan and his remarks on the economy as, “…unhelpful, ungracious, and downright inaccurate…”, while Nick Gillespie at Reason laments that, “Politics is a marathon game of blaming the guy before you and kicking the can down the road until the next guy comes along…”. In an example of strange bedfellows, William Kristol remarks, “I thought his speech was on the whole commendable, and even at times impressive.” Joe Klein looks beyond the domestic reaction: “You can bet that the commitments he made to the Iraqis will be front page news in Baghdad tomorrow…”. Internationally, the BBC provides a comprehensive round up of reactions from figures in the region, human rights groups, and the United Nations.


Posted in Iraq, Military, US foreign policy, US media | Comment »

Iraq: Preview of President Obama’s Speech

August 31st, 2010 by Jason

President Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver a nationally televised address tonight marking the withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq. While the drawdown is significant, a large number of troops will remain: “…Americans need to understand that our troops are needed to assist the Iraqis on security matters…” notes the Wall Street Journal, adding “It would be a tragedy if after seven years of sacrifice, the U.S. now failed to assist Iraqis as they try to build a federal, democratic state in an often hostile neighborhood.” The recent political stalemate has caused concern in some quarters. While visiting Iraq, Vice President Joe Biden described the stalled formation of a government wryly: “…politics has broken out in Iraq.” Marc Lynch makes the case that the drawdown is “one of the largely unremarked bright spots in his (Obama’s) foreign policy record to date” and that the political situation would not change if troop levels stayed the same. “The only effect of delaying the drawdown would have been a hammer blow on U.S. credibility, informing all Iraqis that American commitments were always and only up for bargaining…”. The President himself stated that tonight’s speech will not be a “victory lap” but that, “There’s still a lot of work that we’ve got to do to make sure that Iraq is an effective partner with us.”


Posted in Iraq, Military, US foreign policy, US media | Comment »

Western Media: Enabling Arab Autocracy?

August 16th, 2010 by Jennifer

Khaled Abu Toameh writing for the Hudson Institute in New York lambasts what he describes as Western media’s “hypocritical approach” to covering human rights abuses in the Arab world. According to Toameh, the media leaps to report on stories of Israeli abuse against Arabs, while largely refusing to cover human rights violations committed against Arabs by their own dictatorial states. Toameh says that “the mainstream media in the US, Canada and Europe are turning a blind eye to recent developments in Jordan, where the government has introduced a law that restricts media freedom.” Further, he cites the Palestinian Authority’s recent arrest of seven Palestinian university lecturers in the West Bank– a story that only one of “at least a dozen foreign correspondents and newspaper editors in North America and Europe” chose to run –as an example of the media’s “double-standards” approach to news items, stating, “One can only imagine the reaction of the international media had the Palestinian academics been arrested by Israel.” Toameh also asserts that this pattern is “not a new phenomenon,” arguing that “many Western correspondents based in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv refused to publish stories about bad government, abuse of human rights and rampant financial corruption under Yasser Arafat’s administration.”


Posted in Human Rights, Israel, Jordan, Palestine, US media | Comment »

Iran: Regime Responds to the Ashura Protests

January 5th, 2010 by Josh

In the wake of country-wide opposition protests on the Shiite holy day Ashura, the BBC reports that the Iranian regime has barred all Iranian citizens from “cooperating with foreign organizations it says are trying to destabilize the government.” Among the 60 groups included on the list are Human Rights Watch, Yale University, opposition website Rahesabz, U.S.-funded broadcasters, and the BBC itself.

According to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency, President Ahmadinejad tried to downplay the power of the recent protests by saying that “The Iranian nation has witnessed many plays of this kind: a play ordered by the Zionists and the Americans, who had purchased the tickets to this play and were the only audience.” But Mohammad Reza Madhi, a former high-ranking officer in Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards’ intelligence service, told the Bangkok Post that he believes Ahmadinejad is “crazy” and that the Iranian government is on the verge of collapse.

On Monday, nearly 90 professors at Tehran University signed a letter to the regime strongly denouncing the government’s use of violence to suppress dissent, claiming it “shows the weakness of the country’s leadership.” The Tehran-based Parsine news web-site reports that Ayatollah Khomeini’s remaining family is similarly dismayed by the reckless violence and is considering a permanent move to the holy city of Najaf in Iraq. Meir Javedanfar over at Tehran Bureau uses this story as an opportunity to ask the question: “Can the Khomeini family pose a real challenge to Khamenei and Ahmadinejad?”

Al Jazeera reports that Iran is moving rapidly to indict and try those arrested during the Ashura protests. However, requests by defense lawyers to hold the trials in an open session were denied and very little information has been made available regarding the identity of the defendants or the nature of the charges.

Meanwhile, Andrew Sullivan at the Daily Dish has compiled a large sample of the Ashura day coverage, specifically highlighting the citizen journalism and user-generated content from Iranians on the ground.


Posted in Freedom, Human Rights, Iran, Islam and Democracy, Journalism, Protests, Reform, US media | 1 Comment »

Journalists Operating in Closed Societies

September 11th, 2009 by Jason

As part of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Edward Murrow 60th anniversary fellowship celebration, several American journalists discussed their career experiences reporting from foreign countries with closed societies. The panelists included Dan Southerland of Radio Free Asia, David Remnick of The New Yorker, Caryle Murphy is an independent journalist currently working in Saudi Arabia and finally Elizabeth Rubin of The New York Times Magazine. Margaret Warner of NewsHour with Jim Lehrer presided.

While the discussion touched on many countries, Murphy focused on the current journalism environment in Saudi Arabia. According to Murphy, Saudi Arabia is “still very much a closed society. But it’s not as closed as it used to be.” She attributes this opening to the Internet and a conscious decision by the Saudi government to allow foreign journalists to operate more freely with the hope they will publish “better, fairer stories.”

Other discussion focused on when should journalists risk the safety of their sources, fixers and even themselves for the sake of a story. One difficulty journalists face is to determine which red lines should not be crossed, a problem especially difficult during tumultuous situations such as in Iran today.


Posted in Afghanistan, Gulf, Iran, Iraq, Journalism, Kuwait, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, US media | Comment »

Is Western Media Coverage of the Middle East Biased?

July 10th, 2009 by Max

Ibrahim El-Houdaiby, writing for the Daily News Egypt, makes the case that Western media is very selective in its coverage of Middle East and Muslim issues. While El-Houdaiby begins by criticizing coverage of the murder of Marwa El-Sherbini, who was stabbed to death in a German courtroom, he argues that selective coverage extends to much larger-scale events:

“There has been harsh criticism for Tehran’s regime for its crackdown on demonstrators. I do believe that no regime should use power against its own people that way. But an immediate question would be: where is this very same media when Egypt’s regime cracks down on demonstrators calling for an increase in salaries or for political reform.”


Posted in Egypt, US media | Comment »

Al Jazeera Widens U.S. Broadcasting

July 7th, 2009 by Max

Al Jazeera, the Doha-based news network, has expanded its English-language broadcasting in the U.S. The network had experienced difficulty forging deals with U.S. cable distributors following accusations by individuals such as former vice-president Dick Cheney that it was “the mouthpiece of Osama Bin Laden.”

The network is now available in the Washington DC area, as of July 1st. Viewers who desire coverage in their own area are encouraged to visit www.iwantaje.net.


Posted in Middle Eastern Media, US media, al-Qaeda | Comment »

Iran Hangs Six Opposition Supporters

July 1st, 2009 by Blake

Drawing criticism from some senior clerics over the way it has handled the fallout from last month’s elections, Iran is reported to have hanged six supporters of presidential candidate and opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi. The Jerusalem Post also reports a serious public crackdown on Iranians Monday by Basij militiamen and their female counterparts, the Sisters of Zeynab. Moreover, accounts of prison overcrowding and prisoner abuse have emerged.

The swelling rift among clerics in the Iranian establishment has continued to draw conjecture from Western analysts, prompting a Huffington Post article that examines a potential “clash” between Islam and Democracy in Iran.  Similarly, Pepe Escobar at the Asia Times claims that Iran was cementing an uniquely theo-militaristic dictatorship even before the election. On the other hand, reports that the regime–whose survival has depended on its popular appeal–has been weakened. Doubts that the theocracy will weather the crisis remain widespread. Nevertheless, the death of Michael Jackson, many argue, has drawn Western media attention away from Iran, which has been advantageous for President Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Khamenei.


Posted in Elections, Iran, US media | Comment »

State Department to Twitter: Delay Maintenance for Iran

June 16th, 2009 by Max

Reuters has just reported that the U.S. Department of State has acknowledged that it asked Twitter, the social networking service, to delay scheduled upgrades so as not to disrupt the Iranian opposition’s communications. The upgrades, which were to have taken place Monday night, would have occurred during daylight hours in Iran and interfered with reformists’ ability to organize. As the Iranian government has limited cellphone and internet service since last Friday’s election, Twitter has played a central role in allowing opposition protesters to organize on the ground, as well as communicate with the outside world. Twitter has rescheduled the upgrades for 5pm EST, 1:30am in Iran.


Posted in Elections, Iran, Middle Eastern Media, Public Opinion, Reform, US foreign policy, US media | Comment »

An Iranian Recount

June 16th, 2009 by Max

On the tail of the largest demonstrations in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which left a reported seven protesters dead, the Council of Guardians has announced that it will order a partial recount of disputed ballots in Friday’s elections, but will not annul the vote as had been requested by Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mohsen Rezaie, two of the challengers in the presidential election that was allegedly a massive victory for incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Ahmadinejad’s supporters planned a counter-rally in the same places as yesterday’s rally, which was to take place at the same time as another opposition rally. Mousavi’s spokesman, however, urged his supporters not to attend in order “to protect their lives.” There are also reports that 120 lecturers at Tehran University have resigned over the election and subsequent attacks on the university by Basij militia.

The opposition rally drew from a wide spectrum of Iranian society. One young cleric who addressed the crowd said that he brought a message from the holy city of Qom: “Without a doubt, all clerical scholars are against the current situation. The only person acceptable to them is Mr. Mousavi, they have rejected Mr. Ahmadinejad’s request to meet them in the past two days.”

Read the rest of this entry »


Posted in Elections, Iran, Islam and Democracy, Middle Eastern Media, US media | Comment »

Calls to Defend Press Freedom in Iraq

June 12th, 2009 by Blake

The Committee to Protect Journalists and the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, both of which are media watchdog groups, have issued a letter to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki calling for greater protection of journalists. Although it acknowledges the progress in the Iraqi media since 2003, the letter cites an unsafe security environment and governmental intimidation and harassment of journalists as intolerable threats to press freedom.

The letter calls on the government to condemn intimidation, enforce penalties for media-related offenses, and release freelance photographer Ibrahim Jassam Mohammad, who has been held for nine months without charge.


Posted in Freedom, Iraq, Journalism, Middle Eastern Media, US media | Comment »

Repairing American Public Diplomacy in the Middle East

February 9th, 2009 by Cecile

William A. Rugh has a good article at Arab Media and Society about improving America’s image in the Middle East. While the last few years have seen improvements, overall American public diplomacy is not being utilized to its full potential. Rugh advises a continuation of engagement with Arab media - President Obama’s interview on Al Arabiya is a step in the right direction. He also suggests reforming the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which is responsible for all U.S. government international broadcasting, arguing that it “has been an irresponsible steward of America’s broadcasting assets.”

Additionally, the Pentagon’s role in public information programs (for which it is ill-equipped and ill-trained) has grown over the years. Both Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates have acknowledged that this should change and Rugh stresses that public diplomacy should be primarily restored to the State Department.

One important function of public diplomacy in the past has been to provide a barometer of foreign opinion. However, President Bush “seemed uninterested in foreign opinion, and his adminstration made little use of public diplomacy professionals as monitors and analysts of it.” If Obama is to make good on his promise of listening instead of dictating, this would be a good place to start.

Overall, Rugh recommends an approach to public diplomacy that incorporates the use of all Arab media (not just the “friendly” ones), substantial reforms of U.S.-owned enterprises such as Radio Sawa and al-Hurra, and a restoration of the State Department’s primacy in public diplomacy with enhanced training for officers in the public diplomacy career track.


Posted in Diplomacy, Middle Eastern Media, Military, Public Opinion, US foreign policy, US media | Comment »

2008: LAT Calls For More Clarity on Iraq; Obama Calls Talabani

June 27th, 2008 by Matt

LA Times writer James Rainey, dismayed at the current state of campaign discourse on Iraq (”amounts to a bout of locker- room towel snapping”), calls up a few experts to get their two cents on areas where the candidates need to be pressed for more detail.  Rainey charges the media with cutting through the fog that has settled over the Iraq issue, but he also hopes they cut the candidates some slack if their positions change–getting away from trying to catch every “flip-flop”.

Meanwhile, Barack Obama presumably talked about Iraq in some detail with Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, but didn’t put out a particularly illuminating statement about their conversation.


Posted in Election 08, Iraq, US media | Comment »

The Power of Language

May 29th, 2008 by Sarah

Lawrence Pintak, Jeremy Ginges, and Nicholas Felton opine in the New York Times that President Bush’s description of the Arab media as a purveyor of anti-American propaganda reflects a broader failure to use Arab journalists as a potential “weapon in the war of ideas against terrorism.”

Bret Stephens, writing for the Wall Street Journal, condemns the Department of Homeland Security’s recommendation to use the term “progress” instead of “liberty” when defining foreign policy goals.  While the DHS issued these recommendations in order to “better engage the Muslim world,” Stephens suggests that doing so sidesteps our true policy goals of ending totalitarianism, and he argues that the U.S. should not shrink from using the word “liberty.”


Posted in Journalism, Middle Eastern Media, US foreign policy, US media | Comment »

The Muslim Divide and Western Perceptions

May 5th, 2008 by Amanda

Over the weekend BBC World broadcast “The Doha Debates” hosted by Qatar Foundation, on the Sunni-Shia conflict as portrayed in the media. Sayyed Hassan al-Qazwini, imam of the largest mosque in North America, is disconcerted by the widespread radicalization of Muslims by Western press. He also affirms that the media misinterprets the Sunni-Shiite split that has historically been, and continues to be motivated more by politics than religion.

Speakers included Informed Comment contributor Juan Cole, former advisor to Jordanian King Hussein General Ali Shukri, and Dr. Hisham Hellyer, fellow at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies.

At Dipnote, the official State Department blog, the “Question of the Week: What Impact Would Press Freedom Have on People Without It?


Posted in Journalism, Qatar, US media | Comment »

Look Beyond Baghdad, PRT Member Asks

November 29th, 2007 by Sean

Today in the CS Monitor, a Provincial Reconstruction Team member Jon Dorschner in the Dhi Qar province argues that the current American debate on Iraq is focused too narrowly on Baghdad, to the exclusion of other important developments.


Posted in Foreign Aid, Iraq, US media | Comment »

Restrictions on Free Press Spread to US

October 19th, 2007 by Celest

Ilan Weinglass, in the Washington Times, writes how Saudi billionaire Khalid bin Mahfouz has used British libel laws to silence allegations that he funded al-Qaeda. “A number of leading American publications including The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times and USA Today have publicly retracted allegations made about Mr. Mahfouz on their pages.” He describes this as “disturbing” since the Treasury Department has reported significant evidence.


Posted in Freedom, US media | Comment »