WASHINGTON — "Oh are you working for the CIA now?" That is how Samir Nader, State Department correspondent for Radio Sawa described his friends' reaction when he joined the U.S. radio network beamed to the Middle East. But the key to their acceptance, and their large audiences, is that they are the only full-time correspondents covering the White House, Congress, the Pentagon and the State Department in Arabic language broadcasting. So people in Iraq, Syria and neighboring countries can see and hear that they are getting the news direct from Washington. And they can see that Americans disagree — and……
Tag: Middle East
Alhurra marks ninth anniversary with plunge into mobile apps
WASHINGTON – The U.S. government's international TV broadcaster in the Middle East, Alhurra, celebrates its ninth anniversary on the air on Thursday with new initiatives to reach mobile devices. First up, will be a new Alhurra app for Android-powered cell phones, according to Brian T. Conniff, President of Middle East Broadcasting, Alhurra's parent company…….
Research Director Latonero discusses trends in social media during visit to Saudi Arabia
"Social media are growing in popularity throughout the world, but at this historic moment, nowhere is its presence more groundbreaking than in the Middle East," said CCLP's Director of Research & Instruction Mark Latonero. In May, Latonero joined a team of scholars from the US and Middle East in Saudi Arabia as a part of an educational visit to share information on the American higher education system and also to learn more about the use of communication technology in the region. Latonero visited a class on social media during his trip, and noted that "communication majors were learning about……
The Revenge of God
NEW YORK–It was in the spring of 1966 that Time magazine shocked a lot of readers with a black cover with the white question: "Is God Dead?" The article, much debated, defined a new and more secular world. Wrong! It turned out he was only resting. And not for long. In the 1970s came "La Revanche de Dieu"–"The Revenge of God"–the title of a book by a French political scientist, Gilles Kepel. Kepel, whose work was published in 1991 and translated into English three years later, began by chronicling the events of the 1970s, a decade many of us remember……
There Are No Easy Choices in Libya
LOS ANGELES — Adam Zyglis, the editorial cartoonist of The Buffalo News, did a portrait of President Obama sitting on an oil drum in the classic chin-on-hand pose of Auguste Rodin's "The Thinker." Behind him, war raged in the Middle East and "Freedom" was under a tank and rubble. Zyglis' caption was "The Overthinker." Well, although Obama may be a touch too thoughtful to be a president in the decisive mold of a Harry Truman, he does have a lot to think about. I count at least 11 options in Libya, all of them risky…….