This week, Jadaliyya`s "Media on Media" roundup takes a closer look at the media industry in the Middle East. In the shadow of Syria’s inconsistent media coverage, an entrepreneurial journalist has developed a platform which uses geo-tracking to collect social media from and on conflict zones. The platform can directly benefit investigative journalists in areas where conflict-zones are too dangerous to monitor physically.
Zawya has released an updated report on Arab reality television released in 2015-2016, an indicator of the popularity of reality TV shows in the Arab world. At the same time, the demand for more Islamic-themed media content has led to opportunities in curating for a Muslim-dominated audience.
In other news, the Libyan American journalist Noor Tagouri explains her decision to appear as the first hijab-wearing woman in Playboy. Meanwhile, Turkish officials continue their crackdown on Kurdish media outlets as the police raid IMC TV while live on the air. In the digital age, newspapers are struggling to stay alive, and in an industry awash in choices and options, news agencies are facing an existential crisis.
All of these stories and more are available below in further detail.
Media and Politics
Call it Daesh, not ISIL (or ISIS)
Source: CNN
Using the term DAESH undermines the intent of the terrorist organization otherwise known as ISIS, according to this article. The usage of the term in the American political and media scene can further undercut the organization.
Analysis: Why Assad’s propaganda isn’t as crazy as it seems
Source: Syria Deeply
While Western journalists have ridiculed the regime’s targeted ‘misinformation’ technique, calling the president a real-life Borat, this article discourages dismissal and asserts that Assad’s projection of power is also a projection of control.
Culture
Meet the first hijab-wearing Muslim to pose for Playboy [Video]
Source: BBC
Causing much controversy in the Muslim world, Libyan-American journalist Noor Tagouri explains in this video why she has decided to appear as the first hijab-wearing woman in Playboy magazine.
جورج وسوف وكاظم الساهر: موقفنا الماضي وحاضرنا الكارثيّ
المصدر: موقع حبر
تقارن هذه المقالة ما بين جورج وسوف (السلطان) وكاظم الساهر (القيصر) وقدرتهما من تكوين حركة اجتماعية في خضمّ المجتمع العربي.
Graphic novel paints intimate portrait of refugees in the Middle East
Source: News Deeply
A newly published comic book, “Rolling Blackouts,” aims to portray a series of intimate refugee stories. A graphic memoir and nonfiction account of refugee lives, this comic book provides a behind-the-scenes glance at how journalists cover conflict.
Media Industries
Existential crisis facing news media companies today
Source: Al Jazeera
Commenting on the crisis that traditional media is facing, this article provides an extensive analysis on the print media industry and how digital is disrupting the mode of operations for the medium.
السينما من الافتراضي الى الواقعي
المصدر: صحيفة السفير
تلقي هذه المقالة الضوء على نادي سينما لبناني يعمل على تخطي عوائق الرقابة، بجعله مفتوح للعموم ومجاني.
Islamic-themed media presents TV opportunity
Source: Digital Production ME
The article provides brief insights from a recently published report which studies the opportunities in creating Muslim-oriented media content.
34 Arabic reality TV shows aired on 10 FTA channels for the season 2015/March 2016
Source: Zawya (Reuters)
A recently published “Arabic Reality TV Shows” report examines the genre’s market appeal in the region.
Detailed study of the pay TV market in Middle East and North Africa to 2020 illuminated by new report
Source: Whatech
This report contains quantitative data which covers demographics, Pay TV penetration and services adoption, market share by technology and operator and service revenue data in Middle East and North Africa`s Pay TV services market at country level.
Freedom of Journalists/Expression
Turkey police raid pro-Kurdish channel, live
Source: Middle East Online
The state of emergency persists in Turkey, as the Erdoğan-led government continues to restrict media outlets for no legitimate reason: “The coup failed but a counter coup is in place.”
Turkey asks Eutelsat to suspend Kurdish TV channel off air
Source: Middle East Online
Turkey forces European satellite operator Eutelsat to take down the Kurdish broadcaster Med-Nuce TV off air, raising the levels of concern of the European council and other freedom of journalists advocates.
Rights groups: Israel’s agreement with Facebook threatens free speech
Source: Middle East Monitor
A number of online Palestinian outlets react to the recent agreement between Facebook and Israel to censor ‘inciting’ content, while calling for active participation from online users to stop such practices.
Three journalists detained in Egypt after vox pop
Source: Your Middle East
Three Egyptian photojournalists have been arrested last week on charges of "spreading false news." The article includes commentary on Sisi’s consistent repression of all forms of opposition.
`Journalism is a dangerous job for Palestinians`
Source: Al Jazeera
To highlight the working conditions of Palestinian journalists, this article takes the case of Sanabel radio, which was recently shut down by IDF, to shed light on the oppression and indefinite detention of Palestinian journalists in the absence of valid charges.
Social Media
A school in Qatar is in hot water after its textbooks calls Palestinians `terrorists`
Source: AlBawaba
A twitter storm has occurred after a private Qatari schoolbook has made reference to Palestinians as "terrorists" in a chapter about terrorism and hijacking planes.
This guy is helping journalists find tweets in war zones
Source: Warwire
Used as a tool to verify coverage and massacres happening on the ground, WarWire allows indexed geo-tagged social media posts to be searchable by journalists and researchers who need to report on and analyze a conflict zone
الفيسبوك نظاماً عربياً
المصدر: موقع حبر
توجّه هذه المقالة رسالة الى موقع فيسبوك أن العالم ليس ورديّاً، مقدمة مقارنة بين الموقع من جهة وشركة بيبسي من جهة أخرى.
Media Practices
التضليل الإعلامي ومستشفيات حلب الشرقية
المصدر: صحيفة السفير
تناقش هذه المقالة ممارسات وسائل الاعلام العالمية وبعدم التدقيق من صحة الاخبار المتناقلة حول الوضع الأمني المتدهور في حلب
Yemen: The `forgotten war` cloaked in the shadow of Syria
Source: CNN
This article aims to analyze the reasons behind the lack of proper media coverage on one of the region’s bloodiest war zones.
Al Jazeera launches interactive investigation #Hacked
Source: Al Jazeera
In an effort to uncover the endless hurdles online investigative journalists have to go through while covering the war, Al Jazeera has launched this app ‘#Hacked’ so that the user must navigate a virtual minefield of viruses, hackers and potentially unreliable sources.
Others
Social media users disguise racist slurs in coded language Including "Google" and "Skittles"
Source: Complex
Referring to Donald Trump’s tweet which compares Syrian refugees to Skittles, this article studies the variety of racist xenophobic innuendos that have become common practice with online users today.
We Must Honor the Key Role Reporters Play in Syria and Other Conflicts
Source: Syria Deeply
Attending a conference to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Nuremberg trials, Professor David Crane was reminded of the essential function journalists perform during wars and in post-conflict justice.
From Jadaliyya Media Roundups
Gazans hold filmmaking competition after municipal sector devastated by occupation
Source: Palestine Media Roundup
Four winners were declared in the first annual event. The films presented touched on environmental issues such as water conservation and cleanliness. The United Nations estimates that as much as ninety-six per cent of the water in Gaza is unsafe for drinking.
سينما متنقلة على ضوء القمر.. في فلسطين
المصدر: Palestine Media Roundup
خلال الأسبوع الأخير من شهر سبتمبر الجاري، تجوب سينما متنقلة مناطق في الضفة الغربية ولاسيما الأغوار، حيث تعرض على الجمهور هناك أفلاماً.
NYT finds no ‘camera-ready villain’ in Yemen (because those are our child-killers)
Source: Arabian Peninsula Roundup
The piece by Amanda Taub on why the war in Yemen gets so little attention is, or should be, an instant classic in the realm of Orwellian thinking.
[The "Media On Media Roundup" is an initiative to survey published material in the news and broadcast media that deals with journalism, coverage, or mass communication practices about the region. These roundups are produced and curated in collaboration with the American University of Beirut`s Media Studies Program. The items collected here do not reflect the views of Jadaliyya or the editors of the Media Page.]