mediaoriente

The Al Waleed-Murdoch Middle Eastern connection raises Arab fears

mediaoriente — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:09:20 +0000

Thanks to my Twitter friends, I’ve just jumped into this interesting Zawya’s article (based on AFP) “Murdoch’s pan-Arab foray seen as ‘Trojan horse’ in Egypt”.

The article starts like that:

“The tie-up between Arab entertainment giant Rotana and pro-Israel media mogul Rupert Murdoch is viewed in Egypt not only with suspicion but as signalling the decline of Arab film and art heritage”.

I’m actually more surprised for this article coming from AFP rather than for its actual contents.

Arabs now fearing that this alliance would bring “normalisation” to Arab-Israeli relations and would result into a benefit for Israel frankly looks a bit naif.

Murdoch and Al Waleed have been doing business together for a long time. The Saudi Prince is actually the only non- family member to own a stake in Murdoch’s News Corp capital (see 23 January post on this blog).

In 1997 the Time reports Al Waleed stating that:

“I want to concentrate on communications, technology, entertainment and news. This is the future. News Corp. is the only truly global news and entertainment company.”

In the same article, the alleged “Israeli connection” is also brought to light:

“His business investments in the Middle East, for example, provide him with direct access to Arab heads of state, on whom he may have a moderating influence, since many of Alwaleed’s international partners are Jewish and support Israel. “Religion has never been a barrier between us,” says Four Seasons Hotels Inc. CEO Isadore Sharp. “He mentioned once that we have similar value systems and moral principles.”

Al Waleed and Murdoch have been involved in a long time business friendship. Why are Arabs so scared of Murdoch bringing pro- Israeli arguments in the Region now that he owns a stake in Rotana?

Didn’t they know that the Prince has been directly involved in News Corp. for many years?

Why haven’t they questioned him before?

Al Waleed is a smart businessman, he has investments in major sectors of Western economies (hotels, entertainment, technology, etc). He is also smart in the Middle East, where at the same time he sponsors “liberal” pop channels like Rotana and Islamic entertainment stations like Al Risala TV.

Once I attended a media forum in Dubai, many years ago, and the Prince was there. At the time, Muslim riots were exploding everywhere in France, particularly in Paris suburbs. The Prince said he was not happy about the way Fox News (which belongs to News Corp) was covering the events, being it anti-Muslims biased. So he just picked up the phone and called his long-time friend in order to “adjust” the coverage.

(as the AFP take reported by Zawya reminds: “When in 2005 Alwaleed was reported as saying he had influenced how Fox News depicted rioting in heavily Muslim suburbs in France, the conservative Accuracy in Media group called for an investigation”).

It’s a funny story and Arabs should bear this in mind when they start pointing at a pro-Israeli (or anti-Arab) conspiracy.

Is this starting only because Murdoch is finally coming himself to Region?

Did everybody in the Arab world really ignore that Al Waleed was doing business with Murdoch since long time ago?

Were they so “naif” to ignore the fact that, by owning a significant stake in News Corp., the Prince could have actually an influence himself on its editorial strategy instead of being passively influenced by it?

Business is business, and sometime this is true also in the Arab world. Al Waleed has been working with Murdoch for many years in order to grow his commercial interests in Western profitable media industries. Being Murdoch a pro-Israeli or not, this doesn’t matter to Al Waleed so much. They are both businessmen in a global economy.

That would be great if Arab journalists and intellectuals would once focus on the deeper political-economical implications of this deal, perform the duties of investigative journalism and do analysis, instead of going back always to the same old story of “conspiracy” which mostly helps maintaining a passive and not constructive attitude in the Arab world.

Lessig: “Italy and the Internet”

mediaoriente — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:48:32 +0000

Lawrence Lessig just published on the Huffington Post the english original version of the article that La Stampa sent out yesterday in Italian.

“Italy and the Internet”, much more appropriate title that the one La Stampa gave..

Lawrence Lessig

Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, Co-founder of Change Congress

Posted: March 16, 2010 07:10 AM

Italy and the Internet

(An English version of an essay published today in Italian in La Stampa, Turin)

I had the honor last week to give a lecture at the Italian Parliament, as part of an extraordinary effort by the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Gianfranco Fini, to host debates about the future of the Internet. No equivalent series has ever been held, or received the same serious attention at the United States Congress. And it was a refreshing reminder of what serious policymaking might be — to see senior Members of one of Europe’s most important democracies working to understand this, the most important platform for economic growth throughout the world.

The panel was opened by the President, emphasizing both the critical importance the network has for youth across the world, and the necessity to protect it against irrational and protectionist legislation. Italy is leading the push to get the Nobel Committee to consider the Internet for the Peace Prize. Hundreds within the Parliament have already signed the petition.

My own lecture emphasized the need for governments to resist the increasing extremism that marks debates about the Internet. Both Internet cheerleaders (as I have been fairly accused of being) and Internet opponents do too little to understand the truth in the other side’s charges. Though the Internet has inspired an extraordinary range of creativity, artists are right to complain that illegal filesharing has harmed at least some of them. And though the explosion of free or near free news has given us unprecedented access to immediate information from around the world, journalists are right to worry that support for investigative journalism will disappear as media becomes less profitable. And though new standards of transparency by government, pushed especially by the Obama Administration, have made an unprecedented range of government data accessible to all, critics are right to be concerned about the ways that transparency can weaken, rather than strengthen, public trust in government. In each context, we must recognize that the Internet is not going away, and that we should celebrate the great value it has given us. But we should also find ways to minimize harms that openness might encourage.

At the end of my talk, however, I was surprised to hear the criticism of Vice-Minister Paolo Romani that I had not offered “specific solutions” to policy problems. Americans are often too blunt. Perhaps in my effort to compensate, I had been too subtle. For in each of the areas that I discussed, I had described specific policy recommendations that any democratic government should, in my view, pursue. And after listening to the interventions of the other 7 participants on the panel, I am even more convinced of this than I was before.

First, with respect to copyright: Governments need to recognize that the war we wage against our kids to stop illegal filesharing is unwinnable, and that we should be looking for other ways to assure the objective of copyright — that artists be paid — without criminalizing a generation.

Second, regarding journalism: We need stronger protections for independent journalists, to assure a meaningful check on government and corporate misbehavior.

And third, regarding trust in government: Governments need to be sensitive to the kinds of conflicts that tend to weaken faith in democracy.

Each of these three areas is directly relevant to the one specific Italian policy question that I did address, and with which Minister Romani has become most closely associated — what the Press calls, the “Romani Decree.” That decree purports to regulate online video sites such as YouTube under the same standards that apply to television broadcasting companies, such as Prime Minister Berlusconi’s company. I criticized this approach, and in light of the three policy areas I addressed, it is not hard to see why.

With respect to copyright, Romani believes equal treatment would better protect copyright owners. But there’s no relevant equivalence between a one-to-many broadcast curated by a single company, and a many-to-many video platform, making unselected uploaded content available to anyone who chooses to watch. Forcing both to live under the same rules is simply to force the YouTubes of the world to adopt rules that block a world of amateur created content that can’t afford the clearance costs that professional content can. “Equal treatment” is just a thumb on the scale in favor of existing broadcast television.

Likewise with the Vice-Minister’s defense of the idea that platforms such as YouTube should bear equivalent liability for harmful or offensive speech, like the horrific video of teenagers insulting a mentally handicapped teen. As You Tube “obviously,” the Minister informed us, “had pre-clearance algorithms to block porn from You Tube,” there “must be an algorithm they could use” to block other such offensive conduct as well.

But You Tube has no automatic filter for pornography on its site. It bans it, but must rely upon users to flag it as “inappropriate” first. And there is no computer scientist in the world who believes he has an algorithm for automatically distinguishing between the shameful insults of a mentally handicapped teenager and the normal playful interactions of kids. So once again, a rule that treats these different services as “the same” is simply a rule to favor broadcasters over the Internet.

Likewise with my concern about journalism: Services such as You Tube have become a critical tool for investigative journalists. Unlike broadcasts, which once made, effectively disappear, You Tube-like services never forget. A politician’s claims one week can be compared with his claims the following week. Differences can be shown. Political pressure can then be brought to bear. Weakening the You Tubes of the Net by burdening them with broadcaster regulation simply weakens this important source of democratic accountability. Fears about liability will simply push more critical content off the wires.

Finally, my concern about trust: As I argued, the more we understand about what government does, the more opportunities there are for misunderstanding as well. Innocent acts may seem sinister because of apparently sinister associations, and a politician may have no easy way to correct how the act appears. So in the United States, the private funding of public elections leads most Americans to believe “money buys results in Congress” whether or not it does — and even more so as groups such as MAPLight.org (on whose board I proudly sit) makes the links between financial contributions and legislative behavior even more clear and, in a word, icky.

Yet this is precisely the feeling one gets about Vice-Minister Romani’s “decree.” He may in good faith believe that his regulation is sensible. I have no basis to question his motives, and have no way of knowing exactly how much he understands about how the Internet actually works.

But in a government already so tightly tied to traditional broadcast television, any push to burden the Internet in a way that would only benefit traditional broadcast TV is, in a word, icky. When Italians recognize that these regulations have the obvious effect of protecting 20th century media from the competition of 21st century media, will they even listen to arguments about sensible policy? Will they even wonder to ask what possible justification for these regulations there might be?

The answer to these costs from transparency, of course, is not less transparency. It is setting up government so that reasonable people can’t mistrust its motives, even when they see all. In the United States, that mistrust is an unavoidable consequence of privately funded public elections. In Italy, it is an unavoidable consequence of a government so intimately tied to traditional broadcast media. In both cases, the costs force the democracy to choose — between the status quo and trust in democracy.

There is enormous skepticism and anger in both America and Italy about how democracy does, or does not work. In both countries, I suggest, the “specific policy recommendation” that Vice-Minister Romani asked for should be to worry more about responding to that anger by restoring democracy’s trust.

The support of President Fini for the true principles of the Internet, and the leadership of Italy in getting the Nobel Committee to recognize this “weapon of mass construction” is a model the rest of the world should follow. But unfortunately, the conflict of a 20th century media government burdening 21st century media is a pattern followed by too much of the world already. It only muddies the message of good policy that President Fini is so keen to convey.

Lessig’s slides on his Italian Parliament lecture

mediaoriente — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 10:29:40 +0000

I’d like to share this link to the lecture Larry Lessig delivered on 11th march at Italian Parliament. It has been extremely ispiring for many people (and, hopefully, for our Parliament members and ministries, particularly for Paolo Romani who’s responsible for this shameful “Romani decree”) and we are looking forward to seeing how this will influence future developements in our country.

Lessig also followed up today on Italian daily news La Stampa by sending them a very interesting article that they titled “Internet.La trasparenza aiuta la fiducia” (Internet. Trasparency helps trust). This is not really what Lessig meant, I guess, particularly during his lecture -and on his famous pamphlet “Against transparency“- where he argued that actually transparency can also enhance mistrust in democracy.

Article is still not available online but you can find it on La Stampa newspaper today.

Lawrence Lessig, founder of Creative Commons, at the Italian Parliament on 11th March

mediaoriente — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:13:17 +0000

Lawrence Lessig, founder of Creative Commons, Director of the Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics and Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, is going to lecture at the Italian Parliament in Rome on 11th March starting at 3pm (free entry with ID, but limited seats available, so the earlier the better. Pls email me so I can send the official invitation to print and bring with you).

Gianfranco Fini, President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, is going to introduce Lessig’s lecture in the framework of a debate entitled “Internet è libertà” (Internet is freedom) organised by Capitale Digitale, in cooperation with Creative Commons and Nexa Center for Internet and Society in Turin.

A panel debate will follow the lecture with, among the others, Paolo Romani, vice Minister of Communication in the Berlusconi’s government, who gave the name to the controversial Romani decree.

“The law, which bears the signature of Paolo Romani, vice minister of communications for the Berlusconi government, calls for measures that would allow government control of audiovisual content on the web”, as the European Journalism Centre reports.

“In particular, the decree would force anyone wanting to upload videos to the Internet – be they single users or professional publishers – to seek a licence from the Ministry of Communication. Individual users, private citizens, would when uploading videos be equated under the new law with a television station… with all the legal obligations implied”.

In such a difficult time for Italian democracy and with all the controversies raised in the past few days (not only on new Internet and audiovisual law projects but also on the regional elections), this debate is much more than needed and we’ll see where it will end up.

What’s happening to my country

mediaoriente — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:54:47 +0000

Today I got up in a foreign country and read the news about mine. I still can’t believe that “that” is my country. Everytime I read about what’s happening in Italy I have the impression it’s something happening on the moon, on a strange planet.

Today I read Stefano Rodotà’s column on Repubblica about the latest developments in Italy, a country where if there is a problem -like it happened to Berlusconi’s coalition, not being on time to present the candidates’ list for the upcoming regional elections- the Prime Minister says “let’s change the law“. And if somebody, who still believes in the Costitution as a super-partes thing, refuses to do it, he/she is immediately labelled as “communist, conspirator, etc”.

Rodota’ says we have passed the limit. He underlines “how deep is the abyss which we are falling into”.

It’s not an exaggeration or a complain. Italy was the country of beaty, history, style, nice people, dolce vita, bla bla …

It is now a place where somebody who doesn’t like something simply decides to change it. The problem is that this “somebody” is the Prime Minister and this “something” is the law.

Sitting in a beatiful Nordic country, I still can’t believe the country I’m reading about is “my” country, the country where I was raised, where I studied, where I was educated by parents and the society surronding me to respect others, to respect the law. That was my country. A country with dignity. I hope there is still some left. I should say, inshallah.

I’m thankful to Rodotà for this beatiful article which I re-publish here below (although I don’t have any rights to do it). I wish it was in english.

Una crisi di regime

di STEFANO RODOTA’

CHE COSA indica la decisione del Tar del Lazio che, ritenendo inapplicabile l’assai controverso decreto del Governo, ha confermato l’esclusione della lista del Pdl dalle elezioni regionali in questa regione? In primo luogo rivela l’approssimazione giuridica del Governo e dei suoi consulenti, incapaci di mettere a punto un testo in grado di superare il controllo dei giudici amministrativi. Ma proprio questa superficialità è il segno della protervia politica, che considera le regole qualcosa di manipolabile a proprio piacimento senza farsi troppi scrupoli di legalità. E, poi, vi è una sorta di effetto boomerang, che mette a nudo le contraddizioni di uno schieramento politico che, da una parte, celebra in ogni momento le virtù del federalismo e, dall’altra, appena la convenienza politica lo consiglia, non esita a buttarlo a mare, tornando alla pretesa del centro di disporre anche delle materie affidate alla competenza delle regioni.

Proprio su quest’ultima constatazione è sostanzialmente fondata la sentenza del Tar del Lazio. La materia elettorale, hanno sottolineato i giudici, è tra le competenze delle regioni e, partendo appunto da questo dato normativo, la Regione Lazio ha approvato nel 2008 una legge che ha disciplinato questa materia.Lo Stato non può ora invadere questo spazio, sostituendo con proprie norme quelle legittimamente approvate dal Consiglio regionale. Il decreto, in conclusione, non è applicabile nel Lazio. I giudici amministrativi, inoltre, hanno messo in evidenza come non sia possibile dimostrare alcune circostanze che, in base al decreto del 5 marzo, rappresentano una condizione necessaria per ritenere ammissibile la lista del Pdl. In quel decreto, infatti, si dice che il termine per la presentazione delle liste si considera rispettato quando “i delegati incaricati della presentazione delle liste, muniti della prescritta documentazione, abbiano fatto ingresso nei locali del Tribunale”. Il Tar mette in evidenza due fatti. Il primo riguarda l’assenza proprio del delegato della lista che ha chiesto la riammissione. E, seconda osservazione, non è possibile provare che lo stesso delegato, presentatosi in ritardo, avesse con sé il plico contenente la documentazione richiesta.

Se il primo rilievo sottolinea l’approssimazione di chi ha scritto il decreto, il secondo svela la volontà di usare il decreto per coprire il “pasticcio” combinato dai rappresentanti del Pdl. Che non è frutto, lo sappiamo, di insipienza. È stato causato da un conflitto interno a quel partito sulla composizione della lista, trascinatosi fino all’ultimo momento, anzi oltre l’ultimo momento fissato per la presentazione della lista. È una morale politica, allora, che deve essere ancora una volta messa in evidenza. Per risolvere le difficoltà di un partito non si è esitato di fronte ad uno stravolgimento delle regole del gioco. La prepotenza ha impedito anche di avere un minimo di pazienza, visto che la riammissione da parte dei giudici dei listini di Formigoni e Polverini ha eliminato il rischio maggiore, quello di impedire in regioni come la Lombardia e il Lazio che il partito di maggioranza avesse un suo candidato. Si dirà che, una volta di più, i giudici comunisti hanno intralciato l’azione di Berlusconi e dei suoi mal assortiti consorti? È possibile. Per il momento, però, dobbiamo riconoscere che proprio i deprecati giudici hanno arrestato, sia pure provvisoriamente (si attende la decisione del Consiglio di Stato), una deriva verso la sospensione di garanzie costituzionali.

Non possiamo dimenticare, infatti, che la democrazia è anche procedura: e il decreto del governo manipola proprio le regole del momento chiave della democrazia rappresentativa. La democrazia è tale solo se è assistita da alcune precondizioni: e le sciagurate decisioni della Commissione parlamentare di vigilanza e del Consiglio d’amministrazione della Rai hanno obbligato al silenzio una parte importante dell’informazione, rendendo così precaria proprio la precondizione che, nella società della comunicazione, ha un ruolo decisivo. Non dobbiamo aver paura delle parole, e quindi dobbiamo dire che proprio la congiunzione di questi due fatti, se dovesse permanere, altererebbe a tal punto le dinamiche istituzionali, politiche e sociali da rendere giustificata una descrizione della realtà italiana di oggi come un tempo in cui garanzie costituzionali essenziali sono state sospese.

Comunque si concluda questa vicenda, il confine dell’accettabilità democratica è stato comunque varcato. Una crisi di regime era già in atto ed oggi la viviamo in pieno. Nella storia della Repubblica non era mai avvenuto che una costante della vita politica e istituzionale fosse rappresentata dall’ansiosa domanda che accompagna fin dalle sue origini gli atti di questo Governo e della sua maggioranza parlamentare: firmerà il Presidente della Repubblica? Questo vuol dire che è stata deliberatamente scelta la strada della forzatura continua e che si è deciso di agire ai margini della legalità costituzionale (un tempo, quando si diceva che una persona viveva ai margini della legalità, il giudizio era già definitivo). Questa scelta è divenuta la vera componente di una politica della prevaricazione, che Berlusconi ha fatto diventare guerriglia continua, voglia di terra bruciata, pretesa di sottomettere ogni altra istituzione. Da questa storia ben nota è nata l’ultima vicenda, dalla quale nessuno può essere sorpreso e che, lo ripeto, rivela piuttosto quanto profondo sia l’abisso nel quale stiamo precipitando,
A questo punto, la scelta di Napolitano, ispirata com’è alla tutela di “beni” costituzionali fondamentali, deve assumere anche il valore di un “fin qui, e non oltre”, dunque di un presidio dei confini costituzionali che arresti la crisi di regime. Ma non mi illudo che la maggioranza, dopo aver lodato in questi giorni l’essere super partes di Giorgio Napolitano, tenga domani lo stesso atteggiamento di fronte a decisioni sgradite in materie che già sono all’ordine del giorno.

Ora i cittadini hanno preso la parola, e bene ha fatto il Presidente della Repubblica a rispondere loro direttamente. Qualcosa si è mosso nella società e tutti sappiamo che la Costituzione vive proprio grazie al sostegno e alla capacità di identificazione dei cittadini. È una novità non da poco, soprattutto dopo anni di ossessivo martellamento contro la Costituzione. Oggi la politica dell’opposizione dev’essere tutta politica “costituzionale”. Dopo tante ricerche di identità inventate o costruite per escludere, sarebbe un buon segno se la comune identità costituzionale venisse assunta come la leva per cercar di uscire da una crisi che, altrimenti, davvero ci porterebbe, in modo sempre meno strisciante, a un cambiamento di regime.

YL Social Media Cafe tomorrow at Zico House, Beirut

mediaoriente — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:59:21 +0000

“Switching from the culture of consumption to the culture of creation. Can Arabs do it?”.

This is the question I’ll try to address in my talk at the YL Social Media Cafe tomorrow 6th of March in Beirut.

And this is one of the gorgeous pics that my Lebanese friend artist Maya Zankoul has been so kind to design for my presentation (I’m really flattered!). Maya is one of the most promising young Lebanese artists and she also publishes under Creative Commons. People like her make me thinking that yes, of course, that “switching from the culture of consmption to the culture of creation” is possible.

For those of you who are in beautiful Beirut tomorrow, please join us at Zico House in Hamra starting from 4pm.

The YL Social Media Cafe programme is here: http://ylsmc.wordpress.com/ and on Facebook.

Thanks to Hiba and her team for inviting me to such an interesting event I’m looking forward to it!

ps. Maya’s illustration is under CC BY license. Pls read the terms of use and don’t trick!!!

Lawrence Lessig, fondatore di Creative Commons, al Parlamento Italiano l’11 marzo

mediaoriente — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:00:25 +0000

La settimana prossima il Parlamento Italiano ospiterà Lawrence Lessig, fondatore dell’organizzazione internazionale Creative Commons e Direttore del Center for Ethics di Harvard University.

Lessig è uno dei pensatori contemporanei più innovativi sul versante di Internet e di come valori, pratiche e procedure delle società democratiche siano da esso profondamente.

Famoso è il suo ultimo provocatorio pamphlet “Against transparency”, da cui Lessig partirà per la sua lectio magistralis italiana.

Telecom, Wired Italia e gli altri partner del consorzio Capitale Digitale organizzano l’evento in collaborazione con Creative Commons e Nexa, l’unico centro d’eccellenza in Italia che si occupa del rapporto Internet-Società.

Il Presidente della Camera Fini ha voluto intitolare la giornata dell‘11 marzo -dentro la quale Lessig terrà la sua lectio magistralis seguita da un panel di dibattito fra esperti e rappresentanti del governo- “Internet è libertà.Perchè dobbiamo difendere la Rete”.

Dopo i recenti, infuocati sviluppi del caso Google-Vivi Down in Italia, è proprio il caso di dire che questa giornata cade a pennello. Lessig è un noto libertario, il che non si può dire della nostra maggioranza di governo, almeno sul trattamento del dossier “Internet“. E sarà quantomeno interessante seguire un dibattito che vede, fra gli altri, protagonista il sottosegretario Romani, che ha dato paternità al contestato decreto Romani, al centro di polemiche per aver equiparato Rete e tradizionali editori broadcast nelle norme di pubblicazione di contenuti audiovisivi.

Sleepless in Gaza..and Jerusalem

mediaoriente — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:08:23 +0000

I’ve just got a message from Abdallah Schleifer. Abdallah is an old friend of mine, old cause I met him more than 10 years ago at a conference at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris. I admired him for being a brilliant journalist and the smart director of the Adham Centre for TV Journalism at the American University of Cairo.

If you read his Wikipedia page you can have just a little idea of how cool is Abdallah, born Marc, an American secular Jewish who converted to Islam after many years spent as a militant in the Marxist movement all around the world, visiting periodically Cuba and being an active member of the Beat Generation’s.

I’ve always adimired Abdallah for being such enthusiast and passionate about whatever he does. So I’m not suprised to read his latest email, which I hope he won’t mind if I re-publish here below.

It’s about his latest project -or his latest “adventure”, same thing for such a character as Abdallah is!- “Sleepless in Gaza..and Jerusalem” which tells the story of four Palestian women, Muslim and Christian, living in two Palestian areas that cannot communicate -Gaza and Jerusalem-.

Those people can’t communicate but through Internet and phone, despite being part of the same country. Like them, we are unable to follow what’s happening to Gaza and its people, left alone and no more under “the spotlight” . TV channels, with few Arab exceptions, are not interested in Gaza anymore -it seems-.

But the Internet will help, once again. Abdallah and his partners at Pina TV Productions will broadcast each 26 mins episode of “Sleepless in Gaza” on You Tube each 6 days, starting from today.

I invite all of you to subscribe to “Sleepless in Gaza” ’s You Tube channel www.youtube.com/SleeplessinGaza and mabrouk to Abdallah and his partners for this great iniative who proves him to be, once again, the great enthusiastic and innovative personality we all know.

frwd:

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

On March 1st — this coming Monday– the premier episode of a 90 part series, “Sleepless in Gaza…and Jerusalem” will be launched on YouTube. It will be a video diary about four young Palestinian women, Muslim and Christian, two living in Gaza and two in Arab Jerusalem/West Bank.

PINA TV Production camera crews will be covering Ashira Ramadan, a broadcast journalist based in Jerusalem; Ashira’s friend in Gaza, the documentary film maker Nagham Mohanna; Donna Maria Mattas, a 17 year-old student at the Holy Family school in Gaza who dreams of growing up to be a journalist, and Ala’ Khayo Mkari who works with Caritas in Jerusalem.
.
The intention of this series is neither rant nor rhetoric. It is rather an opportunity for all of us, who do not live in Gaza, occupied Arab Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank, to grasp how these four young Palestinian women live out their daily lives, precisely because their lives are stories we journalists were taught almost dismissively to think of as “human interest” and almost necessarily conflict driven.

How, as human beings, these four Palestinians can also experience moments of personal and community achievement, and the warmth of friends and family life that in real life is possible even in the most difficult circumstances of siege and occupation.

Each episode runs 26 minutes and will be shot in Jerusalem/West Bank and Gaza, edited and uploaded the same day. So you will find a new sequence six days a week at www.youtube.com/SleeplessinGaza. On Friday, we all rest.

A “Sleepless…” trailer should be up on YouTube by the time you receive this letter. We also have just set up “Sleepless in Gaza…and Jerusalem” on Facebook. It’s got such a long URL that Facebookers should note– just type in “Sleepless in Gaza…and Jerusalem” in the Facebook search and you will be home. We don’t have our own domain website yet, but our partners PINA TV Productions’ website will serve as such for the time being at www.pina.ps.

This is a personal note as much as it is a press release, so it is going out on my email but after today you can reach us at SleeplessinGaza@gmail.com.

Please pass this letter on to your friends on email and to organizations that believe in peace on earth and good will to all, that they too might spread the word.

Regards,

Abdallah Schleifer
for Radiant Circle Productions and PINA

PHD scholarship in Islam and Arab Media

mediaoriente — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:28:49 +0000

PhD scholarship on Islam in Arab Media

The Graduate School at the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Copenhagen invites applications for a PhD scholarship expected to begin 1 October 2010 within the following area:

Islam in Arab Media: The project proposal should have a special emphasis on how various expressions of Islam affect the Arab Media, or vice versa. Potential studies could take up production environments, e.g. specific TV channels or web portals. It could also be centred on particular genres, media-personalities or audiences. Studies within the role of Islam in selected media on the Arabian Peninsula are particularly welcome.

The PhD project is financed by the New Islamic Public Sphere Programme (CNIO) at the Department of Cross Cultural and Regional Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen. The selected candidate will be affiliated with and receive supervision from the staff at CNIO.

It is expected that the applicant has a thorough knowledge of Arabic and English. The thesis may be written in Danish or English. The PhD program is a three year program.

The PhD candidate will be employed at the Faculty of Humanities and will be enrolled at the Graduate School of the Faculty of Humanities.

For more information on CNIO see http://islamicpublicsphere.hum.ku.dk/.

The contact person is Professor Jakob Skovgaard-Petersen (jsp@hum.ku.dk).

For Application procedure see the website http://www.humanities.ku.dk/research/phd/Announcements/

Deadline for application 23 march at noon CET.

On Syrian contemporary drama (musalsalat) industry

mediaoriente — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:46:56 +0000

Few days ago I presented my phd research work on Syrian TV Drama at the Danish Institute in Damascus and I had the pleasure to have this article published by Badiah Snaji from Sana news agency.

This was just an internal meeting presenting the phd project that I`m currently doing with Department of Cross Cultural and Regional Studies at Copenhagen University but I hope next time we can host a bigger event and in Arabic. Thanks to all the great staff of the Danish Institute who made me feel really home during my stay!

باحثة إيطالية: مشاهدة الدراما السورية بحاجة إلى تركيز أكثر من الدراما الأجنبية

ثقافة /
11 شباط , 2010 – 04:05 PM

دمشق-سانا

تحدثت الباحثة الإيطالية دوناتيلا ديلاراتا في محاضرتها التي ألقتها في المعهد الدنماركي بدمشق بعنوان “الدراما السورية المعاصرة بين سقف العالم وباب الحارة” عن أوجه الاختلاف بين المسلسلات السورية ونظيرتها الأجنبية من حيث ان الأخيرة تتمحور حول مواضيع خفيفة هدفها الأول التسلية والترويح عن النفس في حين أن الدراما السورية بحاجة إلى متابعة أكبر.

وقالت ديلاراتا إن المسلسلات الأجنبية معدة بحيث يتمكن الفرد الأجنبي من متابعتها وهو يحضر الطعام مثلاً في حين أن الدراما السورية بحاجة إلى تركيز أكبر أثناء المتابعة وخاصة أنها تتمحور حول مواضيع اجتماعية شائكة مرتبطة ببعضها أو تلجأ إلى التاريخ أحياناً وما تحويه من تفاصيل مهمة توجب متابعة جميع الأحداث التي يدور حولها العمل الدرامي.

ولفتت الباحثة الإيطالية إلى اختلاف آخر بين الدرامتين التلفزيونيتين يقوم على أساس وقت العرض الذي يتكثف في الدراما السورية ضمن شهر رمضان في حين أنه يمتد على شهور السنة كاملة بالنسبة للمسلسلات الأجنبية.

وعرضت ديلاراتا لتاريخ الدراما التلفزيونية السورية منذ ستينيات القرن المنصرم وحتى الوقت الحاضر وتطرقت إلى بعض الفروقات بين الدراما التلفزيونية السورية ونظيراتها المصرية والأردنية واللبنانية وفيما بعد الخليجية وذلك وفق السياقات التاريخية التي أنتجتها وأثرت على مسيرتها لافتةً إلى أبرز ملامح شخصية الدراما السورية التي ظلت في أغلب مراحلها مرتبطة بالمجتمع وفيها أعلام مهمون على صعيد الإخراج والكتابة والتمثيل.

وقسمت ديلاراتا الدراما السورية إلى نوعين الأول أسمته الدراما المحلية التي تتضمن مسلسلات يصب جوهرها في النوستالجيا أو ما يسمى الحنين إلى الحياة الشرقية القديمة كما في باب الحارة أو التركيز على الحياة المعاصرة كمسلسل ليس سراباً.

أما القسم الثاني فأسبغت عليه صفة العالمية والذي يتوجه في موضوعاته التي يطرحها إلى الغرب كما في مسلسل سقف العالم الذي يتحدث عن مواضيع الإرهاب أو هدوء نسبي الذي يتناول حياة الصحفيين في غزو العراق.

من جهته قال هانس نيلسن مدير المعهد الدنماركي بدمشق إن موضوع الدراما بات يشكل ظاهرة مؤثرة في المجتمع العربي المؤلف من 300 مليون نسمة ومن هنا تأتي أهمية دراسته أسوةً بما يحصل في أوروبا وأمريكا.

وأضاف.. أقمنا مسابقة في آذار الماضي لتحديد شخص يستطيع دراسة هذه الظاهرة وتقدم إليها أكثر من خمسين متسابقاً من مختلف أنحاء العالم ووقع الخيار في النهاية على الإيطالية ديلاراتا لكفاءتها العالية واطلاعها الكبير على موضوع الدراما السورية والعربية عموماً.

يذكر أن دوناتيلا ديلاراتا درست الإعلام في جامعة روما واهتمت منذ ثلاث سنوات بدراسة الدراما السورية بعد أن كان لها تجربة واسعة في الكتابة عن المحطات الفضائية العربية في منطقة الشرق الأوسط حيث تملك ثلاثة كتب في هذا الموضوع باللغة الإيطالية فضلاً عن العديد من المشاركة في دراسات عن الفضائيات العربية.

بديع صنيج

هذا المقال يأتي من الوكالة العربية السورية للأنباء – سانا – سورية : أخبار سورية
www.sana.sy