Robert Wright on Newsweek and Foreign Policy
Actually, the only clash here is over which part of the woman should be covered in black and which part should be exposed—and on this issue the two magazines are completely at odds. They are in broad agreement about how to get people to pay attention to your magazine.
I wonder how these covers affect how the cover stories—Newsweek’s by Katie Roiphe and FP’s by Mona Eltahawy—are being received. Eltahawy’s is a particularly interesting case. Her piece is a passionate indictment of the way women are treated in Arab countries. And I would imagine that some of the people in those countries who most resist her message might try to use the cover to discredit it. (Though it’s hard to tell in this thumbnail image, the woman is covered only by paint, and the lower part of her breast is visible.) Then again, there’s an Arabic edition of FP, and it wouldn’t shock me if its cover has a different look.
[Images: Newsweek, Foreign Policy]
Yeah
I really don’t think all these
approaches can be really responsible for these actually serious issues. There can be much more simple and transparent - and responsible ways to represent problems, voices, and also display solutions-at-work.
And Robert Wright and Atlantic is taking a cheap shot on this.
Under ‘Entertainment’ directory/classification.
I tend to feel there is this (strong) ‘America’ thing underlying.
Sensationalize, always talk and think and write and inform and influence from partisan stance.
You can see it in the URL. The Atlantic’s post is under ‘Entertainment’ Directory.
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/04/newsweek-fp-magazine-clash-over-editorial-philosophy/256279/
April 25, 2012, 12:29pm 89 notes
[Is mine]
Ever since a member of the Qatari royal family took charge of the network, coverage was getting a bit weird. Don’t get me wrong, Al Jazeera can do some fantastic coverage on various matters in the region, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. [as someone who always looks for this, no they really don’t. You’re better off with Arab News for Israel/Palestine] They also did an amazing job in the initial coverage on the Egyptian revolution. It’s all good. The Stream is also a great show, but only gets 30 minutes a day, which sucks.
Anyways, it’s been getting shady. Especially when they canceled the showing of a documentary on Morocco’s pro-democracy movement for no apparent reason. That was the last straw for me.
So! Here’s a list of English sources on the Middle East and North Africa. Most of them are just publications.
- Jadaliyya: Amazing analysis from the top scholars and academics in every field pertaining to the Middle East and North Africa. Politics, culture, religion, gender studies—you name it. You can’t really be studying MENA politics without having read something from here.
- Al Akhbar: The English version of one of the most prominent newspapers in Lebanon. They cover all things in the region though. Mostly newsy, but there are quality op-ed pieces and weekly blogposts from prominent voices.
- Tunisia Live: They launched after the Tunisian Revolution and cover all things Tunisia. They also occasionally post pieces pertaining to other parts of the region, namely North Africa.
- Arabist: Yes, this is a blog, but an amazing blog. Even if all you’re checking out is the weekly link roundup, that’s enough news to keep you updated. Most of the posts are on Egypt, but there is a sprinkle of other countries.
- Magharebia: Okay, they’re funded by AFRICOM, yes. But they are one of the few sites that consistently publishes content on the Greater Maghreb (Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia, and the Western Sahara). It’s basic coverage, but if you come across a story that intrigues you, just do some more research.
- Ahram Online: The English version of the “first newspaper in the Middle East.” It’s based in Egypt and provides coverage throughout the region.
This is a very basic list, and I’ll probably add to it. Though, with these alone, I’m confident you’ll stay informed and up to date on the ever-changing stories and situations in the Middle East and North Africa. All of the above sources are based from the region and/or have writers and editors based or are from the region.
I’m going to add Arab News, yes it’s the Saudi national paper but they have really good coverage of Israel/Palestine (with great op-eds from people like Uri Avnery, Ramzy Baroud, etc.) and recently Syria. They will also have some great pieces on issues in Saudi, believe it or not, for example this article on women driving in Saudi.
stay-human 
Newspapers Are America’s Fastest-Shrinking Industry
…The industries that added the most jobs, according to the analysis, were “internet, hospitals & healthcare, health, wellness & fitness, and oil & energy.” The housing bubble industries — notably, banking and construction — and demand-sensitive sectors like retail, warehousing, and restaurants, had the worst losses.
» via The Atlantic
tech bubb… (zip)
Pakistan must end its policy of killings and kidnappings of Baloch people and recognise the importance of the region.
by Akbar Ahmed (Ambassador Akbar Ahmed is currently the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University in Washington).
——
My comments to Prof Akbar for whom I have tremendous amount of respect and admiration (as posted under the article):
Prof Akbar, I have tremendous amount of respect for you - I still remember as a kid watching Jinnah in cinema and feeling proud and grounded in the realities we would not have otherwise seen in our “history books”. Also you humanised Jinnah in a beautiful way for which I shall always remain thankful.
However here I have a disagreement with you, or rather a complaint. No one in their right mind would ever dare disagree that Pakistan as a State and Pakistanis as a Nation have failed Balochistan. But don’t you think in name of neutrality this article should have mentioned countless hardworking non-Baloch who have been murdered in cold blood in Balochistan while serving the ordinary Baloch to raise the level of services to them which you raised concern for?
I wish Malik Siraj would have mentioned how my family living in Balochistan for a good hundred year was forced out after repeated threats in 60s. Or how lately young kids playing cricket have been killed, or that Balochistan University Vice-Chancellor, or that private school’s Principle, or that female University professor, or those labourers whose bodies were found with their hands tied behind their back were all murdered just because of being non-Baloch even though they were directly contributing to the Balochi people.
There are fortunately always two sides of a coin.
umalik Nuke carrier leads US strike force into Syrian waters
Nuclear aircraft carrier USS George HW Bush has reportedly anchored off Syria. As an Arab League deadline to allow observers into the country passes with no response from Damascus, the possibility of intervention in Syria seems to be growing.
The George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group along with additional naval vessels are to remain in the Mediterranean to conducting maritime security operations and support missions as part of Operations Enduring Freedom and New Dawn. The US 6th Fleet is also patrolling the area, Interfax news agency reports.
Meanwhile, America and Turkey are urging their citizens to leave Syria. The US released a statement on Wednesday urging American citizens to “depart immediately while commercial transportation is available.”
Against this backdrop, the prospect of humanitarian intervention in Syria no longer looks like such an impossible scenario. And pressure is growing on the issue…
Read More: RT
The source of this news is Stratfor - only by so far: http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2011/11/24/us-government-urges-american-citizens-to-leave-syria-as-us-aircraft-carrier-approaches/
But then there are reports that Russia
verbalresistance
Feel free to agree or disagree when you’re done reading this. The title, you see, says it all. Happy learning, folks.
…
when the condition of colonised women was used to make colonised men primitive and, in short, confirm the basic idea that Muslim women were submissive and weak and that Muslim men were authoritarian and aggressive.
So what about how we see/imagine Muslim men? like Saudi/Gulf royals/riches (spoiled? princes), Pakistani ISI types or ‘rape/honor killing’ types, or even more controversial types.
Thing is these really difficult? types of Muslim males really don’t talk about who they are, how they think, why they do things they do etc - in details, with contexts. They don’t expose themselves to the world, also we don’t give them platforms, sorta.
That - that’s obscuring many big things. I think. Of course only these difficult types getting talking won’t be sufficient - we need other type of Muslim males really talking much more actively too.
[When I approach Islam - right now - I approach from Quran, sorta. But there are all kinds of living humans called ‘Muslim’. We need to represent people more as living human beings.]
September 22, 2011, 4:56pm 32 notes
yeah he tried to carry in his pistol to UN and halted or …
Arafat became the first representative of a non-governmental organization to address a plenary session of the UN General Assembly. Arafat was also the first leader to address the UN while wearing a holster, although it did not contain a gun.
![umalik:
A Christian Arab grave defacement in Israel.
Graffiti מוות לערבים reads “Death to Arabs”.
Just for all the pro-Zionist-born-again-Christians. Cheers!
Picture taken from Jacob Rask.
It’s just careless that - Israeli society came to tolerate ‘settlers’ and similarly ‘ill-behaving’ - and uneducated, uncultured - thuggish types of Israelis.
Not sure about this particular grave, but there already are many video footages of how thuggish and low some Israelis acts, behaves and speaks.
And being Jewish/Israeli is a religious identity thing, and being in Israel means that ‘there was Holocaust’.
No. You guys aren’t really matching up to standards - how you guys should be - in my eyes.
Don’t blame it on Nazis or Pogrom or Arabs or Palestinians.
You guys decided to start crazy stuff [land grabbing in West Bank] in nasty way, and needed to create those settlers as ‘foot soldiers’.
That’s not religion. That’s not what people with history and/or books would attempt. To your own youth, to your own youngsters, to your own sons and daughters.
No.
I hope there still is a chance that you guys can wake up to this realization.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lq9giz6Qca1qzcqmxo1_500.jpg)
A Christian Arab grave defacement in Israel.
Graffiti מוות לערבים reads “Death to Arabs”.
Just for all the pro-Zionist-born-again-Christians. Cheers!
Picture taken from Jacob Rask.
It’s just careless that - Israeli society came to tolerate ‘settlers’ and similarly ‘ill-behaving’ - and uneducated, uncultured - thuggish types of Israelis.
Not sure about this particular grave, but there already are many video footages of how thuggish and low some Israelis acts, behaves and speaks.
And being Jewish/Israeli is a religious identity thing, and being in Israel means that ‘there was Holocaust’.
No. You guys aren’t really matching up to standards - how you guys should be - in my eyes.
Don’t blame it on Nazis or Pogrom or Arabs or Palestinians.
You guys decided to start crazy stuff [land grabbing in West Bank] in nasty way, and needed to create those settlers as ‘foot soldiers’.
That’s not religion. That’s not what people with history and/or books would attempt. To your own youth, to your own youngsters, to your own sons and daughters.
No.
I hope there still is a chance that you guys can wake up to this realization.
Thank you, Jon Stewart. No thanks to the mainstream media.
Also a message to Republicans—stop your “Libertarian” movement crap right now, it is official that there is nothing Libertarian about it.
Oh yeah and Democrats, don’t use this as “I hate Fox News” opportunity, every left-leaning outlet is just as bad in election bias.
August 16, 2011, 10:10pm 19 notes
Minority Rules: Scientists Discover Tipping Point for the Spread of Ideas
Scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have found that when just 10 percent of the population holds an unshakable belief, their belief will always be adopted by the majority of the society. The scientists, who are members of the Social Cognitive Networks Academic Research Center (SCNARC) at Rensselaer, used computational and analytical methods to discover the tipping point where a minority belief becomes the majority opinion. The finding has implications for the study and influence of societal interactions ranging from the spread of innovations to the movement of political ideals.
“When the number of committed opinion holders is below 10 percent, there is no visible progress in the spread of ideas. It would literally take the amount of time comparable to the age of the universe for this size group to reach the majority,” said SCNARC Director Boleslaw Szymanski, the Claire and Roland Schmitt Distinguished Professor at Rensselaer. “Once that number grows above 10 percent, the idea spreads like flame.”
(via Minority rules: Scientists discover tipping point for the spread of ideas)
TIME: The Decline & Fall of Europe (and maybe the West)
(via chrislindsay)
oh thats so dramatic…
In a way, the quality of leaders (of the West) has deteriorated so vastly - and I don’t know when and how that can be restored.
They are all well educated enough to deliver some ‘leadership speech’ from time to time, but when it comes to real backbone, moral quality, and intellectuality and breadth of experience - to take care of the ‘pack’ - they are all like —- …
spoiled princes and princesses. So to speak.
Can do public performance.
But of no real calibre as statesmen to lead populations and the world.
So the poor falls out, environment goes out of window -
(((while rich people’s bank accounts and investment funds are the only secure thing in this world))).
Meh
August 08, 2011, 7:53pm 4,596 notes
Craig Mod, Post-Artifact Books and Publishing.
Mod asks what a book is in its print to digital transformation, what might be do with it and how might we relate to it.
(via futurejournalismproject)
Why not more interaction between authors and readers? ( including more interaction/exchange among readers, and also more between authors?)
July 19, 2011, 3:27pm 38 notes
James Murdoch and News Corp could face corporate legal battles on both sides of the Atlantic that involve criminal charges, fines and forfeiture of assets as the escalating phone-hacking scandal risks damaging his chances of taking control of Rupert Murdoch’s US-based media empire.
As deputy chief operating officer of News Corp – the US-listed company that is the ultimate owner of News International (NI), which in turn owns the News of the World, the Times, the Sunday Times and the Sun – the younger Murdoch has admitted he misled parliament over phone hacking, although he has stated he did not have the complete picture at the time. There have also been reports that employees routinely made payments to police officers, believed to total more than £100,000, in return for information.
The payments could leave News Corp – and possibly James Murdoch himself – facing the possibility of prosecution in the US under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) – legislation designed to stamp out bad corporate behaviour that carries severe penalties for anyone found guilty of breaching it – and in the UK under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 which outlaws the interception of communications.
Yeah, I mean. How dirty some quarters of journalism (or entertainment) can be. Anyway, I wait until someone puts out more really thorough view on this.
July 08, 2011, 4:24pm 8 notes
