Arab Press Newsletter - 24 June 2008

The Arab Press Network was launched by the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) together with the leading Danish press group JP/Politiken. This email-based network supports the development of a stronger independent press in the Arab world by facilitating the exchange of ideas and experiences between newspaper publishers and editors. The newsletter also serves as a conduit of information by providing information on external activities to help Arab press development.

Arab Press Network
Weekly Summary Nr 16/08
24 June 2008

This week:
***Newspaper Close to Hezbollah Claims Great Success***
***Offering an Alternative View on the Middle East***
***Five New Papers Get their License in Egypt***

Visit our website at http://www.arabpressnetwork.org/

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NEWS FROM THE MEDIA SCENE

Five New Papers Get their License in Egypt In Egypt, five privately-owned newspapers received their printing licenses on 8 June. APN spoke to Ehab Elzelaky, the directing manager of Al-Masry Al-Youm, one of Egypt's most well-known independent dailies, and Atef Saadawy, the managing editor of the Al-Ahram Democracy Review, a political quarterly publication launched in 2001, who shared different views about the nature and impact of this event.

Trends in Newsrooms 2008 What skills are needed in the multimedia newsroom? Do you reporters know what the term "mojo" means? How can the readers be integrated into the news cycle? The recently published annual Trends in Newsrooms report answers these questions and many others linked to the transformation taking place in newsrooms around the world. APN spoke to John Burke, the report's editor-in-chief, about this year's trends.

Somali Media Fraternity Asks International Media Community to Help Injured Journalist Somali media practitioners and the Eastern Africa Media Institute is appealing to the international media community to assist in providing medical help to journalist Abdikahim Omar Jumaleh, who was wounded in a shooting by unknown gunmen in Mogadishu on 11 August 2007. His left hand was severely injured and he remains in poor condition nearly one year after the attack.

Arab Science Journalism Awards Reporters covering scientific topics are encouraged to enter the Arab Science Journalism Awards.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Offering an Alternative View on the Middle East Haitham Sabbah runs an acclaimed blog on Palestinian issues. Launched as a counterweight to what Sabbah found to be biased and limited reporting on the Middle East in Western media, his blog today gets quoted by the BBC, Agence France-Presse and Slate Magazine on a regular basis. In an interview with APN, Sabbah speaks about the role of blogs in the Middle East, and his own blogging.

Newspaper Close to Hezbollah Claims Great Success Almost two years after it hit Lebanese newsstands, the Arab language Al-Akhbar daily, a newspaper so closely aligned to Hezbollah that some consider it the party's mouthpiece, has achieved a success beyond all expectation, today boasting a circulation of 10,000. The paper targets mainly women and young people, reporting on issues that strike a chord in their daily lives. Ibrahim El-Amine, Al-Akhbar's chief executive officer, spoke to APN about the big goals he has for his paper.

PRESS FREEDOM

Moroccan Court Bans Publication of Abuse Testimony On 19 June, a Moroccan court ordered Al Jarida Al Oula, an Arabic-language daily launched in May, to stop publishing testimony given by victims of years of repression under late King Hassan II.

Imprisoned Yemeni Journalist Receives Amnesty International Award Amnesty International has granted its 2008 « Special Award for Human Rights Journalism Under Threat » to Yemeni journalist Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani just a few days after he was sentenced to six years in prison on charges of "publishing information liable to undermine army morale".

Latest Press Freedom News from the Region Last week, press freedom violations occurred in Algeria, Morocco, Qatar, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.