"From small beginnings in the 1960s, Western governments and international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) are today spending huge sums on media intervention in Arab countries, to the point where such intervention has become an industry. Among the plethora of media projects aimed at moulding
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Arab public affairs are a subset intentionally framed in terms of a discourse of conflict resolution, conflict handling and peace-building. Since 1998 external donors have financed such projects bilaterally and multilaterally, with the explicit aim of replacing violence and threats among regional antagonists with mutual understanding, diversity, dialogue and exchange. When it comes to measuring their impact and effectiveness, however, the results have generally failed to meet expectations, and there have been some spectacular disasters. Despite this, the number of such projects in the region is on the increase, with an ever wider range of donors becoming involved. This chapter reviews the development of these interventions for peace. It proposes a typology for understanding their objectives, evaluates their general success and failure and concludes with some considerations about requirements for success." (Page 135)
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"[...] This authoritative book answers key questions about the connections between media and political change in the Arab world. Using research into, for example, practices of Internet users, journalists, demonstrators and producers of reality TV, it explores the interface between public interaction
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over the airwaves, at the polls and on the streets. A lively group of contributors explores such issues as whether young people are served well by new media, whether blogging is an influential political tool, whether satellite news helps or hinders diasporic communities politically, and much more." (Publisher description)
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