This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/22/world/middleeast/22iht-educside22.html

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Teaching the Limits of Media Freedom Is Tricky in the Gulf Teaching the Limits of Media Freedom Is Tricky in the Gulf
(2 days later)
DOHA, QATAR — When Matt J. Duffy first got a job teaching journalism at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi in 2010, he was thrilled.DOHA, QATAR — When Matt J. Duffy first got a job teaching journalism at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi in 2010, he was thrilled.
Besides teaching courses in storytelling, journalistic ethics, and media regulation at Zayed, Dr. Duffy, an enthusiastic blogger, became a frequent contributor to Gulf News, a Dubai newspaper. He also was chairman of a conference on the role of the media in the Arab Spring, started a student chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and organized campus celebrations of World Press Freedom Day last May.Besides teaching courses in storytelling, journalistic ethics, and media regulation at Zayed, Dr. Duffy, an enthusiastic blogger, became a frequent contributor to Gulf News, a Dubai newspaper. He also was chairman of a conference on the role of the media in the Arab Spring, started a student chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and organized campus celebrations of World Press Freedom Day last May.
Three months later, he was expelled from the United Arab Emirates without any explanation.Three months later, he was expelled from the United Arab Emirates without any explanation.
In Doha, the capital of the neighboring Gulf state of Qatar, students at Northwestern University’s campus there were discussing recently the relevance of the admonition by the investigative journalist I.F. Stone that “all governments lie” to a society whose leaders seldom feel the need to explain their actions. The classroom debate was as spirited and irreverent as it might be on any U.S. campus, and the students — a mix of Qataris, Gulf-based expatriates and foreigners — seemed adept at negotiating the contradictions between the uninhibited reporting on Al Jazeera, a network based in Doha and funded by the local government, and the fact that as one student put it, “If they don’t like what you say here, they can deport you.”In Doha, the capital of the neighboring Gulf state of Qatar, students at Northwestern University’s campus there were discussing recently the relevance of the admonition by the investigative journalist I.F. Stone that “all governments lie” to a society whose leaders seldom feel the need to explain their actions. The classroom debate was as spirited and irreverent as it might be on any U.S. campus, and the students — a mix of Qataris, Gulf-based expatriates and foreigners — seemed adept at negotiating the contradictions between the uninhibited reporting on Al Jazeera, a network based in Doha and funded by the local government, and the fact that as one student put it, “If they don’t like what you say here, they can deport you.”
“Journalism in the Arab world is in the middle of a revolution. As a result, journalism education is also in a revolution,” Lawrence Pintak, the dean of the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University, said by telephone. He said that before Al Jazeera started in 1996, television news was an “oxymoron.”“Journalism in the Arab world is in the middle of a revolution. As a result, journalism education is also in a revolution,” Lawrence Pintak, the dean of the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University, said by telephone. He said that before Al Jazeera started in 1996, television news was an “oxymoron.”
“Now everyone in the Gulf gets their news on TV,” he said.“Now everyone in the Gulf gets their news on TV,” he said.
“The Gulf in particular is rife with inherent contradictions,” Dr. Pintak added. “This is a society where women are second-class citizens, yet at the same time they poured millions of dollars into Education City, where the sexes mix and where women get a very hard-edged education. It’s a feudal society that is at the same time extremely modern.”“The Gulf in particular is rife with inherent contradictions,” Dr. Pintak added. “This is a society where women are second-class citizens, yet at the same time they poured millions of dollars into Education City, where the sexes mix and where women get a very hard-edged education. It’s a feudal society that is at the same time extremely modern.”
The author of “The New Arab Journalist,” Dr. Pintak, a veteran Middle East correspondent who also directed the journalism program at The American University in Cairo, described himself as “a child of Watergate.” The author of “The New Arab Journalist,” Dr. Pintak, a veteran Middle East correspondent who also directed a journalism program at The American University in Cairo, described himself as “a child of Watergate.”
“My generation all wanted to bring down a president,” he said. “That sense of the possible is what I see in Arab students today.”“My generation all wanted to bring down a president,” he said. “That sense of the possible is what I see in Arab students today.”
Dr. Pintak said that Al Jazeera’s widely respected reporting on the uprisings of the Arab Spring had been a major influence on “Arab students, who have grown up with all this and want to emulate that kind of reporting. They grew up in very controlled societies. And they want to speak truth to power.”Dr. Pintak said that Al Jazeera’s widely respected reporting on the uprisings of the Arab Spring had been a major influence on “Arab students, who have grown up with all this and want to emulate that kind of reporting. They grew up in very controlled societies. And they want to speak truth to power.”
At Northwestern in Qatar “students write stories about guest workers, sexuality issues, all kinds of controversial subjects,” said the dean, Everette E. Dennis, who described the effects of journalism education in the region as “incremental.”At Northwestern in Qatar “students write stories about guest workers, sexuality issues, all kinds of controversial subjects,” said the dean, Everette E. Dennis, who described the effects of journalism education in the region as “incremental.”
“At one level, what we do isn’t that different from how journalism is taught elsewhere,” he said. “Occasionally books are stopped at customs and we have to go to the authorities to explain why we need them. But most of the faculty here feel they can say what they want. And talk in the classrooms is pretty blunt.”“At one level, what we do isn’t that different from how journalism is taught elsewhere,” he said. “Occasionally books are stopped at customs and we have to go to the authorities to explain why we need them. But most of the faculty here feel they can say what they want. And talk in the classrooms is pretty blunt.”
“When you are a guest in someone else’s country, what is your role?” Dr. Dennis asked. “We see ourselves as part of Qatar’s effort to transform itself from a society based on extractive industry to a knowledge-based economy. But there is not a tradition of freedom of the press in the Gulf — or in the Arab world generally.”“When you are a guest in someone else’s country, what is your role?” Dr. Dennis asked. “We see ourselves as part of Qatar’s effort to transform itself from a society based on extractive industry to a knowledge-based economy. But there is not a tradition of freedom of the press in the Gulf — or in the Arab world generally.”
Shaun T. Schafer, the coordinator of the journalism program at Metropolitan State University in Denver, wrote his doctoral thesis on journalism education in the Middle East, drawing in part on his own experience teaching at Cairo University before the Arab Spring. “There were things you just knew to never write about,” he said by telephone. “And it wasn’t always political. For example you’d never write a business news feature, because if you mentioned a company by name, everyone would assume you’d been paid off.”Shaun T. Schafer, the coordinator of the journalism program at Metropolitan State University in Denver, wrote his doctoral thesis on journalism education in the Middle East, drawing in part on his own experience teaching at Cairo University before the Arab Spring. “There were things you just knew to never write about,” he said by telephone. “And it wasn’t always political. For example you’d never write a business news feature, because if you mentioned a company by name, everyone would assume you’d been paid off.”
The techniques taught in journalism classes may have been the same as in the West, but most of Dr. Schafer’s students saw no alternative to careers in state-controlled media. “I was teaching them how to conduct interviews, how to write a news story. But then they would go to work for Al Ahram or one of the government-connected conglomerates,” he said. “Since the Arab Spring, all that has started to open up.”The techniques taught in journalism classes may have been the same as in the West, but most of Dr. Schafer’s students saw no alternative to careers in state-controlled media. “I was teaching them how to conduct interviews, how to write a news story. But then they would go to work for Al Ahram or one of the government-connected conglomerates,” he said. “Since the Arab Spring, all that has started to open up.”
Dr. Schafer gives Al Jazeera credit for changing students’ attitudes and ambitions, but he laments the network’s “outward-facing” focus. “They’ve developed a really great reputation for looking at everyone else,” he said. “It’s like being a great investigative reporter and being told ‘Don’t ever look at the company you work for.’ That can lead to a damaging kind of cynicism.”Dr. Schafer gives Al Jazeera credit for changing students’ attitudes and ambitions, but he laments the network’s “outward-facing” focus. “They’ve developed a really great reputation for looking at everyone else,” he said. “It’s like being a great investigative reporter and being told ‘Don’t ever look at the company you work for.’ That can lead to a damaging kind of cynicism.”
As Dr. Duffy learned the hard way, for journalism faculty members who do look, retribution can be swift.As Dr. Duffy learned the hard way, for journalism faculty members who do look, retribution can be swift.
“There is a disconnect between what the governments now say they want — which is a Western-style education — and the reality on the ground,” he said by telephone. “As soon as I got to Abu Dhabi I kept hearing about ‘red lines’ — the shorthand they use for taboo subjects. Only you’re never sure what they are. Nobody hands you a list of what not to say. It works to create an atmosphere of self-censorship.”“There is a disconnect between what the governments now say they want — which is a Western-style education — and the reality on the ground,” he said by telephone. “As soon as I got to Abu Dhabi I kept hearing about ‘red lines’ — the shorthand they use for taboo subjects. Only you’re never sure what they are. Nobody hands you a list of what not to say. It works to create an atmosphere of self-censorship.”
At Northwestern, Dr. Dennis admits that “the situation in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates generally is pretty harsh, more than it is here,” referring to Qatar, which ranks 110th on the latest Press Freedom Index issued by the group Reporters Without Borders. The United Arab Emirates is ranked 114th. The United States is 32nd.At Northwestern, Dr. Dennis admits that “the situation in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates generally is pretty harsh, more than it is here,” referring to Qatar, which ranks 110th on the latest Press Freedom Index issued by the group Reporters Without Borders. The United Arab Emirates is ranked 114th. The United States is 32nd.
But in Qatar, too, there have been disturbing incidents. According to a report on the Inside Higher Ed Web site, several Northwestern journalism students have been briefly detained by the police or security guards while carrying out reporting assignments or taking photographs. Most were quickly released, but one, Usama Hamed, spent 10 days in jail last year after taking photographs at the scene of a local fire after the police closed off the scene, according to Doha News.But in Qatar, too, there have been disturbing incidents. According to a report on the Inside Higher Ed Web site, several Northwestern journalism students have been briefly detained by the police or security guards while carrying out reporting assignments or taking photographs. Most were quickly released, but one, Usama Hamed, spent 10 days in jail last year after taking photographs at the scene of a local fire after the police closed off the scene, according to Doha News.
“The whole culture of journalism is new in Doha,” Asma Ajroudi, a junior in the program, told the higher education Web site. “It’s really unusual for a bunch of girls to carry around cameras and notepads and ask questions of random guys on the street.”“The whole culture of journalism is new in Doha,” Asma Ajroudi, a junior in the program, told the higher education Web site. “It’s really unusual for a bunch of girls to carry around cameras and notepads and ask questions of random guys on the street.”
“We teach our students what freedom of expression means,” Dr. Dennis said. “We also teach the constraints on freedom in any society: libel, obscenity laws, improper use of financial information. Here in Qatar you wouldn’t write an attack on the government, or personal criticism of the Emir, or an attack on Islam or the Prophet,” he added. “Is that self-censorship? Or is it just respect for local law and custom? We try to encourage a sense of skepticism about all authorities.”“We teach our students what freedom of expression means,” Dr. Dennis said. “We also teach the constraints on freedom in any society: libel, obscenity laws, improper use of financial information. Here in Qatar you wouldn’t write an attack on the government, or personal criticism of the Emir, or an attack on Islam or the Prophet,” he added. “Is that self-censorship? Or is it just respect for local law and custom? We try to encourage a sense of skepticism about all authorities.”
The real test may come when students decide “they want to be even bolder than their professors,” said David L. Wheeler, the editor of Al Fanar, a new publication covering higher education in the Arab region. “As journalism programs expand across the region, it will be interesting to watch how many universities will back up their students when they run into problems with the authorities because of what they write or broadcast, and how many of them will hide under weak excuses.”The real test may come when students decide “they want to be even bolder than their professors,” said David L. Wheeler, the editor of Al Fanar, a new publication covering higher education in the Arab region. “As journalism programs expand across the region, it will be interesting to watch how many universities will back up their students when they run into problems with the authorities because of what they write or broadcast, and how many of them will hide under weak excuses.”

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: April 23, 2013

An earlier version of this article said that Lawrence Pintak directed the journalism program at The American University in Cairo. He directed a broadcast journalism program.