Mohammed el-Nawawy

US public diplomacy in the Arab world: the news credibility of Radio Sawa and Television Alhurra in five countries

This study surveyed a convenience sample of Arab college students in five Arab countries regarding their perceptions of the news credibility of two US-sponsored networks targeting Arab audiences: Radio Sawa and Television Alhurra. To assess the credibility of these networks, the students were asked to use a 12-item credibility scale developed by Gaziano and McGrath. The study found no correlation between the respondents’ frequency of listening to Radio Sawa and their perception of its news as credible. Moreover the study revealed that the students’ attitudes toward US foreign policy had worsened slightly since they started listening to Radio Sawa and watching Alhurra. Many respondents stated that if the US desires to improve its image in the Arab world, it should leave Iraq and adopt an even-handed policy on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Results of this study show the need for the US administration to acknowledge that no matter how savvy its public diplomacy efforts in the Middle East, they will be ineffective in changing Arab public opinion if that public is dissatisfied with US policies on the ground.

Al-Jazeera English: A conciliatory medium in a conflict-driven environment?

Launched in November 2006, Al-Jazeera English (AJE) stands out amongst its competitors and is considered by many an anomaly when it comes to its journalistic code and identity. AJE is neither dominated by geopolitical nor commercial interests, and is the first of its kind to have the resources, mandate and journalistic capacity to reach out to typically ignored audiences throughout the world. This study argues that AJE’s model of journalism offers an alternative to today’s mode of news journalism that continues to encourage stereotypical attitudes towards cultural ‘others’. Not only has AJE’s programming represented a fresh break from the traditional news agenda, but audiences around the world found AJE to work towards a conciliatory function, based on a typology of a conciliatory media developed here. These findings point to the possibility of a global news broadcaster that can bring diverse audiences together and encourage dialogue, empathy, responsibility and reconciliation.

Collective Identity in the Virtual Islamic Public Sphere: Contemporary Discourses in Two Islamic Websites

/ This study utilizes a textual analysis of selected threads from the Arabic discussion forums of two of the most popular Islamic websites — Islamonline.net and Islamway.com — to explore the potential impact of the new Islamic virtual public sphere, and the reconfiguration of the ‘virtual umma’ (Islamic community) online, on the creation of collective identities. The study also assesses whether the discourses and deliberations taking place in these two sites’ discussion forums exemplify an ideal Habermasian public sphere, through shura (consultation), ijtihad (interpretation) and ijma (consensus), as defined within the Islamic context. Findings indicate that there is an uncritical, unquestioning type of emotional consensus among posters who did not exemplify a truly rational-critical debate, particularly when it came to issues of political salience. Discussions among the posters show that they consider being a ‘Muslim’ as the most important ‘identity signifier’ in their lives. However, in some cases, especially while discussing political issues of a ‘pan-Arab’ nature, a parallel ‘Arab’ identity also emerged, confirming the parallelism and interrelatedness of ‘Arab’ and ‘Muslim’ identities, and the overlap between mediated ‘Arab’ and ‘Islamic’ public spheres.

Political Blogging and (Re) Envisioning the Virtual Public Sphere: Muslim— Christian Discourses in Two Egyptian Blogs

This study utilizes the Habermasian public sphere as a theoretical framework to analyze the discussions and deliberations surrounding the Muslim—Christian discourses in Egypt as they were portrayed in two of the most popular Egyptian political blogs launched by a prominent male and a female political blogger in Egypt, namely, Wael Abbas and Nawara Negm, respectively. The study focused on the portrayal of Muslim—Christian tensions, in particular, as an especially sensitive and controversial issue to explore the extent to which the postings on these blogs reflect a new form of vibrant and dynamic virtual public sphere, and the degree to which this newly constructed virtual public sphere conforms to, or deviates from, the idealized Habermasian public sphere. Our analysis showed that although there was a genuine Habermasian public sphere reflected in some of the threads on the two blogs, there was a general lack of rational— critical debates, reciprocal deliberations, and communicative action as envisioned by Habermas. It also showed that this newly (re)envisioned virtual public sphere aimed to revitalize civil society, through broadening the base of popular participation, which in turn led to boosting and expanding the concept of citizen journalism, beyond the official sphere of mainstream media.

Blogging on Violations of Human Rights and Limitations on Freedom

Violations of human rights and limitations on freedom were among the most serious problems under the rule of ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. “Basic to the concept of human rights is the notion that human beings have the inalienable right to respect for their intrinsic dignity. This means that people must be treated in accordance with certain basic standards. The recognition of the dignity of the human person implies that human beings cannot treat each other however they see fit” (Hamelink, 2004, p. 72).

Is the Umma a Public Sphere

This chapter discusses the concept of the umma and how it can be compared to the public sphere, as defined by Habermas. It starts by providing definitions of the concept of the umma and its historical roots and origins, and moves on to compare and contrast the unity of the umma, in terms of faith and morality, to its segmentation and fragmentation, due to political factors. The chapter also investigates the challenges confronting the umma in the “international” public sphere, such as the challenge of the emergence of Islamic resurgence movements or the “re-Islamization” trend, the challenge of whether the umma can accommodate democracy, the challenge of how far it can tolerate pluralism, as well as the challenge of fostering constructive dialogue between the umma and the “Other,” especially non-Islamic, western communities, and the different views around this issue, which oscillate between the pessimistic view of clash of civilizations and the optimistic view of dialogue between civilizations.

Al Jazeera English as a Conciliatory Medium

Launched in November 2006, Al Jazeera English (AJE) is considered by many an anomaly when it comes to its journalistic mission and identity. It stands out from its competitors in that it presents a challenge to the existing paradigms guiding international news broadcasters. It is neither dominated by geopolitical nor commercial interests, and is the first of its kind to have the resources, mandate, and journalistic capacity to reach out to typically isolated and ignored audiences throughout the world. It both represents a challenge to “the myth of the mediated center,” while also providing a test case for examining the conciliatory potential of a global satellite channel.1

Blogging as Cyberactivism: Introductory Themes

Who would have expected that a group of young digital activists, blogging, tweeting, chatting, and texting, could have sparked the massive wave of political change that swept the Arab world, and came to be known as the “The Arab Spring” or “The Arab Awakening”? The answer could very well be “no one”! That’s mainly because for a number of years the Arab world has been witnessing a perplexing paradox, namely, the gap between the vibrant and active media landscape, where many resistant and oppositional voices could be heard, on the one hand, and the dormant and stagnant political landscape, which did not exhibit any serious signs of active change, popular participation, or true democratization, on the other hand. One explanation that some Arab media scholars (Seib, 2007; Khamis, 2007, 2008) used to account for this puzzling gap was the notion of “safety valves,” that is, that Arab media, especially the opposition press, were being exploited by the autocratic ruling regimes as a platform for people to vent their angry feelings and resentment toward their authoritarian governments, instead of taking decisive steps in the direction of radical reform and transformation, thus substituting words for action (Seib, 2007).

The Arab Political Blogosphere: The Case of Egypt

This chapter, as its title suggests, is divided into two sections. The first section provides an overview of the introduction of the Internet and its multiple implications on the Arab world, with a special focus on the phenomenon of blogging, especially political blogging, in this important and volatile region. In doing so, it sheds light on the Internet’s prevalence in Arab societies, its multiple roles and functions, as well as its potential for acting as a catalyst for democratization and radical transformation in the Arab region. It explains why and how there is a significant amount of debate as to whether blogging has an influential role in promoting social and political change, and its potential for continuing to do so in the future. It also sheds light on some of the most important challenges confronting bloggers in the Arab world.

Political Blogging: (Re)Envisioning Civic Engagement and Citizen Journalism

This chapter lays out the theoretical framework for this book through exploring the process of political blogging, as a form of online democracy, and its potential implications on (re)envisioning the phenomena of civic engagement and citizen journalism. It starts by introducing the notion of political blogging and its many implications, especially in terms of contributing to the creation of a new form of online democracy, which can lead to the rise of a virtual public sphere(s). It also investigates how political blogging can actually energize and revitalize civil society through boosting and encouraging the growth of active civic engagement and actual political participation, and it discusses how and why this may, or may not, be the case. Finally, it sheds light on the closely interlinked process of citizen journalism and how it may impact the phenomenon of political blogging, as well as how it may be impacted by it. In doing so, it explores the multifaceted characteristics of both political blogging and citizen journalism and how and why they may overlap with, or diverge from, each other.