The Layalina Review
VOL. V NO. 7, March 13-March 26, 2009 Referring to the Al-Jazeera effect, Mitha continues, "Al-Jazeera injected a level of journalistic freedom into a region that was and continues to be largely dependent on censored media." Today, government officials must defend their policies on the air, and ordinary people have the opportunity to comment on current events. The internet has also had a liberating effect as tools like Facebook, MySpace and other blogging sites have become the source of information for young Arabs. Today's Arab generation turns to the internet for information and no longer relies on state-controlled media. "Internally, the increased flow of information continues to cause concern for Arab governments whose citizens will no longer simply swallow information fed to them daily by the tightly censored media," comments Mitha. Consequently, regimes in the Middle East have taken steps to try to restrict the usage of certain internet sites and the activity of bloggers. Mitha adds, "We must consider the impact of these new modes of disseminating information... As the Arab world turns to a variety of sources for news and information, our policies will be increasingly scrutinized." He concludes that as the US seeks to win hearts and minds across the Middle East, "our policies must be carefully thought out and implemented in ways that can be used to gain the trust of the Arab street." In other news, the Ministry of Information and Culture of Saudi Arabia is planning to improve electronic journalism as part of its new plan to promote e-media, reports the Saudi Gazette. While journalists are supporting the creation of an official electronic newspaper industry, they are still waiting for the authorization to go ahead with the project. Although discussion of e-journalism started back in the 1990s, no approval was ever given. "The phenomenon of having an official website for each newspaper is really only an attempt to fight the creation of an electronic newspaper industry," said Abdullah Balbaid, Editor-in-Chief of Radians Information Network. According to Balbaid, developing e-journalism is still considered a risk by some, especially as there is no clear definition of journalists' rights and responsibilities. "The ministry issued its new plan to promote e-media by providing a system of regulation in cooperation with the Arab Media Standing Committee. This system will make clear the rules under which e-journalism can operate," said Abdurrahman Al-Hazza'a, senior official in the ministry. Saudi journalists have asked for an updating of Saudi media laws, in which the launching of e-journalism will be an important step in the world of e-media.
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