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The New Arab Journalist: Mission and Identity in a Time of Turmoil
The Arab media is in the midst of a revolution that will inform questions of war and peace in the Middle East, political and societal reform, and relations between the West and the Arab World. Drawing on the first broad cross-border survey of Arab journalists, first-person interviews with scores of reporters and editors, and his three decades' experience reporting from the Middle East, Laurence Pintak examines how Arab journalists see themselves and their mission at this critical time in the evolution of the Arab media. He explores how, in a diverse Arab media landscape expressing myriad opinions, journalists are still under siege as governments fight a rear-guard action to manage the message. This innovative book breaks through the stereotypes about Arab journalists to reveal the fascinating and complex reality - and what it means for the rest of us.
- GenresJournalism
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
2 people are currently reading
19 people want to read
About the author
Lawrence Pintak
7 books3 followersLawrence Pintak has spent his life grounded in facts while fascinated by the ethereal. An award-winning former CBS News Middle East correspondent with a PhD in Islamic Studies, Pintak has been a practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism for three decades and is an avid student of the perennial truths at the core of the world’s religions.
The author of seven books at the intersection of religion, media, and policy, his reporting and analysis on religion and international affairs has been published by The New York Times, Foreign Policy, the Washington Post, and many of the world’s leading media organizations. He also wrote about Buddhism and Eastern traditions for Shambhala Sun/Lion’s Roar, Buddhadharma, Beliefnet.com and others before 9/11 drew his focus back to the Middle East. Pintak’s 2019 book, America & Islam, was a finalist for the Religion News Association award for Religion Reporting Excellence. A second edition, including the Gaza war, will be released in October.
Pintak served as founding dean of The Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University , dean of the Graduate School of Media and Communications at The Aga Khan University in East Africa, director of the Arab world’s leading media training center in the years leading up to the Arab Spring, and helped establish Pakistan’s Centre for Excellence in Journalism. He was named a Fellow of the Society of Professional Journalists in 2017 for “extraordinary service to the profession of journalism” around the world.
The author of seven books at the intersection of religion, media, and policy, his reporting and analysis on religion and international affairs has been published by The New York Times, Foreign Policy, the Washington Post, and many of the world’s leading media organizations. He also wrote about Buddhism and Eastern traditions for Shambhala Sun/Lion’s Roar, Buddhadharma, Beliefnet.com and others before 9/11 drew his focus back to the Middle East. Pintak’s 2019 book, America & Islam, was a finalist for the Religion News Association award for Religion Reporting Excellence. A second edition, including the Gaza war, will be released in October.
Pintak served as founding dean of The Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University , dean of the Graduate School of Media and Communications at The Aga Khan University in East Africa, director of the Arab world’s leading media training center in the years leading up to the Arab Spring, and helped establish Pakistan’s Centre for Excellence in Journalism. He was named a Fellow of the Society of Professional Journalists in 2017 for “extraordinary service to the profession of journalism” around the world.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 14, 2011
In college, I majored in journalism and minored in Middle East studies, so if ever a book was written seemingly for me, this was it.
Dr. Pintak has become an acquaintance of mine since he took over the School of Communications at Washington State University, and I've heard him speak on the subject of Arab countries and the media on a few occasion. He is deeply knowledgeable from both a practical side and an academic standpoint because of his longtime experience as a newsman in the region and a professor at the American University in Cairo. Thus, he knows of what he speaks.
This book, his latest work on the region, is fascinating first for its timing with the role media (new and old) played in the Arab Spring the past few months. Though the book was published just prior to the start of the Arab Spring, the insights Dr. Pintak offers provide a foundation for understanding what has happened.
Undoubtedly, this is the most important work I've read on the subject of Arab journalism. I think some of the data points are colored by the post-9/11 world we live in and the Arab perception of Americans (and visa versa). That said, the U.S. support of Israel dating back to statehood (with some notable exceptions early on) likely would have led to similar perceptions of America and its media. Certainly, American perceptions of Arabs have been colored by the era of terrorism that has existed since the early 1970s - and especially in the past decade.
While this book focuses heavily on Arab media - especially the fascinating rise of Al-Jazeera - it also offers various insights into Western media ethics. I found that much of what was focused on pertains to international media, rather than local publications that rarely write about foreign affairs (instead focusing on local stories and relying on wire services for national and global news coverage).
While Dr. Pintak's book is quite academic in nature, it also is plenty approachable. I also read this on the heels of re-reading Georgie Anne Geyer's excellent autobiography ("Buying the Night Flight"), which details her amazing career as a foreign correspondent in the '60s, '70s and '80s. The two pair well together, and each offers insights for the other in reasonably compatible ways.
"The New Arab Journalist" isn't for everyone. You need to be interested in the region first, and an interest in the growing role of media is a plus. Fortunately for me, this was perfectly suited to my tastes.
Dr. Pintak has become an acquaintance of mine since he took over the School of Communications at Washington State University, and I've heard him speak on the subject of Arab countries and the media on a few occasion. He is deeply knowledgeable from both a practical side and an academic standpoint because of his longtime experience as a newsman in the region and a professor at the American University in Cairo. Thus, he knows of what he speaks.
This book, his latest work on the region, is fascinating first for its timing with the role media (new and old) played in the Arab Spring the past few months. Though the book was published just prior to the start of the Arab Spring, the insights Dr. Pintak offers provide a foundation for understanding what has happened.
Undoubtedly, this is the most important work I've read on the subject of Arab journalism. I think some of the data points are colored by the post-9/11 world we live in and the Arab perception of Americans (and visa versa). That said, the U.S. support of Israel dating back to statehood (with some notable exceptions early on) likely would have led to similar perceptions of America and its media. Certainly, American perceptions of Arabs have been colored by the era of terrorism that has existed since the early 1970s - and especially in the past decade.
While this book focuses heavily on Arab media - especially the fascinating rise of Al-Jazeera - it also offers various insights into Western media ethics. I found that much of what was focused on pertains to international media, rather than local publications that rarely write about foreign affairs (instead focusing on local stories and relying on wire services for national and global news coverage).
While Dr. Pintak's book is quite academic in nature, it also is plenty approachable. I also read this on the heels of re-reading Georgie Anne Geyer's excellent autobiography ("Buying the Night Flight"), which details her amazing career as a foreign correspondent in the '60s, '70s and '80s. The two pair well together, and each offers insights for the other in reasonably compatible ways.
"The New Arab Journalist" isn't for everyone. You need to be interested in the region first, and an interest in the growing role of media is a plus. Fortunately for me, this was perfectly suited to my tastes.
Displaying 1 of 1 review