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Women in Media

Sexual Healing: How big is Kalaam Kibeer?

Dr Heba Kotb aims to give Arabs a

Al Mehwar’s Heba Kotb is not just any sexologist; she’s the Arab world’s first celebrity tele-sexologist, and a devout Muslim sexologist to boot. So how does the Doctor of Sex reconcile her performance on satellite TV discussing sexual pleasure with her strictly Islamic principles? Anna Swank investigates.

Does the veiled look sell? Egyptian advertisers grapple with the hijab

Despite the fact that many Arab women wear the hijab, adverts more often show unveiled women. Photograph by Kim Badawi.

It seems obvious that for an ad to be effective it must represent a prettier, cleaner, better version of reality and yet at the same time feel natural. So why is the hijab such a sensitive topic in Egyptian advertising? Contributing Editor Sharon Otterman investigates, and finds a puzzling mismatch between the hijab in TV ads and the hijab on the street.

Lebanese women journalists brave war odds

Al Jazeera reporter Katia Nasser.

Lebanese women journalists braved bombs, bullets and missiles to report the conflict between Hizbullah and Israel in the summer of 2006, sometimes surpassing their male colleagues’ coverage by providing insight into the conflict’s human nature, says Magda Abu-Fadil.

Publicizing the private: Egyptian women bloggers speak out

Women are taking to blogging more than ever across the Middle East. Photograph by Kim Badawi.

The real-world impact of blogs in the Middle East remains to be seen. But women bloggers stress that there is agency and empowerment in just being able to write, reports Sharon Otterman.

Arab Media Wire

CPJ asks Jordanian king to toss out cyber law The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to defending press freedom worldwide, is deeply concerned about a provisional law on cyber crimes that was approved by the cabinet of ministers on August 3.
The Loss Of Popularity Of Egyptian Blogging The active blogs of a few years ago, which scrutinised social violence and confrontations between the opposition and the police, seem to have waned in popularity today. Their success was attained neither by Facebook nor by mini-blogs, like dormant volcanoes whose eruption has been postponed eternally.
Media Habits of MENA Youth - AUB/Issam Fares Institute report "The survey found the participants highly adept at using new media. They spent considerable time consuming new and traditional media, but much less time producing media content."
Kuwait likely to follow UAE, Saudi BlackBerry ban Kuwait officials are likely to follow Saudi Arabia and the UAE with a ban on certain BlackBerry services, local Arab media has reported.
UAE to suspend Blackberry service on security fears The United Arab Emirates' plan to suspend BlackBerry services in October has sparked concern among users in the Gulf Arab state over the impact it might have on free speech and on companies which rely on the services.
Al Jazeera Files a Lawsuit Against the Egyptian Newspaper Al Ahram Al Jazeera has filed a lawsuit against the Egyptian-based newspaper Al Ahram Newspaper following the publication of what it calls false and damaging statements about the international news network and its management. Al Jazeera says tThese allegations, published in June in an article entitled "Jazeerat Al-Taharrush" ("Al Jazeera an Island of Harassment"), were completely baseless, and without merit, and were mainly aimed at damaging the reputation of the Al Jazeera Network.
Re-thinking 'civil society' in the Arab world Rami Khouri on the role of NGOs in the Arab world
Journalism court threat to Iraqi media Media freedom in Iraq has taken another turn for the worse with the announcement of plans for a special court to handle journalism cases.

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