Apparently the right wing crazies are up in arms again about the fact that it happens to be a Muslim holiday - Eid al-Adha. In fact Muslims have been having holidays for the past 1430 years so perhaps it's not that big of a deal if a store like say, Best Buy, wants to acknowledge the fact.

As it turns out, this is probably the first time a retailer has sent out such Islamic holy day greetings, according to [Read More]

Critical article about censorship in Emirates media
Courtney C. Radsch (Pasadena, CA) - I just came across an interesting article in Al-Akhbar, a Lebanese newspaper, about censorship in the Emirates and the role the governments are or are not playing in improving professionalism and transparency.

Davidson discusses the obstacles to transparency and liberalization as well as the free flow of information posed by the Ministry of Information and Culture, which deals with all sorts of publishing and media distribution. And he points out that although there is a new media law that prevents journalists from being put in jail, the fines are prohibitive and enforces the self-censorship many journalists there were brought up with in the Middle East.

He also  notes the inherent contradiction of having the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority monitor and likely spy on internet usage in ... [Read More]

How do you say "internet" in Arabic?
Courtney C. Radsch (Pasadena, CA) - Egypt has apparently started registering the first Arabic-language internet domain names at dot.msr during the 4th Internet Governance Forum (happening in its very own seaside resort of Sharm el-Sheikh) in a move critics of the regime's perspective on free speech and internet freedom find hypocritical and probably on par with the US or Libya heading up the UN Human Rights Commission. The move came Monday after ICANN, the international organization that handles domain naming, began registration for non-Latin-character domain names. 

Arabic domain names could tear down the English-only internet and usher in a a new era of access and participation that could encourage Arabic businesses to engage with the web not to mention the less educated and uni... [Read More]

The Muslim Brotherhood's leadership challenge a "milestone"
Courtney C. Radsch (Pasadena, CA) - The supreme guide of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Mohamed Mahdi Akef, has decided to step down at the end of his first term in January 2010 in what blogger and activist Ibrahim al-Houdaiby calls "an important milestone for the largest opposition group in Egypt." 

In his article Brotherhood Faces Leaders... [Read More]

Al Jazeera becomes leading Mideast sports broadcaster with ART buy
Courtney C. Radsch (Pasadena, CA) - According to Gulf Times, the Arabic satellite news station Al Jazeera is poised to become the largest sports broadcaster in the Arab region with its reportedly billion dollar purchase of the Arab Radio and Television (ART) network. According to the article, the deal has not yet been announced formally, but it will give Al Jazeera exclusive rights that will likely see it become the leading sports network in the region.

Last week, the UAE daily the National reported that the head of ART's public relations Nawaf Tamimi, said there was no rights deal, following [Read More]

This is the notice I get when I try to access the photo-sharing site Flikr in the UAE. Or any site ending in .ir for Israel. And on a host of other sites that Emirati authorities have decided is not acceptable. And I work in Dubai Media City, a supposedly "free" zone. Apparently not a zone for free speech.

I also can't call any Israeli numbers - which of course also cuts me off from Palestinians living in Israeli occupied territories as well as business and government contacts that could be needed to ensure proper, adequate... [Read More]

Government service: not such an oxymoron at TECOM
Courtney C. Radsch (Dubai, UAE) - TECOM, the Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone authority, is the government agency of Dubai responsible for the so-called "free zones" like Media City, Internet City, Knowledge Village etc. (although funnily enough it does not have a working website!). I had to go to the office for an employment issue and was so astonished by the efficiency, helpfulness and overall competency of a government department that I felt compelled to write a post. Although the office looks like the DMV of something (that is, the Department of Motor Vehicles in the US), down to the rows of windows with glowing red numbers above calling the herds to the appropriate window. People milled around as they waited their turn. But unlike going to the DMV, one of the more painful experiences in life, I actually enjoyed going to this government dep... [Read More]

Ramadan advertising a casualty of the financial downturn
Courtney C. Radsch (Dubai, UAE) - Spending on advertising during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, TV’s holy grail of ratings, fell compared to last year according to industry experts, whose initial optimism about the season proved unwarranted.

The industry was hoping for a recovery during Ramadan, which is typically the biggest advertising season in the Middle East, when each day people watch TV two hours more on average and indulge in food, drink and sweets for the festive dinners that break each day’s fast.

But the Choueiri Group, the Middle East’s largest media sales representation company, said advertising spend declined during Ramadan, which this year started Aug. 21 and ended Sept. 19 in most Arab countries.

“This year, the overall scene has witnessed a drop in advertising spend,” Ghassan Harfouche, managing di... [Read More]

Google, Facebook move up launches in Persian to help Iranian reformists
Courtney C. Radsch (Dubai, UAE) - Google launched its Persian automatic translation service Friday just hours after Facebook announced a beta-version of the social networking site, because of the ongoing protests in Iran over election results that gave incumbent president, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, a second term.

"We feel that launching Persian is particularly important now, given ongoing events in Iran. Like YouTube and other services, Google Translate is one more tool that Persian speakers can use to communicate directly to the world, and vice versa, increasing everyone's access to information," Franz Och, principal scientist, wrote on the company's blog.

The California-based company, which also owns the video ... [Read More]

The Revolution will be Twittered... this time in Iran
Courtney C. Radsch (Dubai, UAE) - Iranian activists successfully got Twitter to suspend a planned interruption of service today because it has become an indispensable communication tool. Twitter and the other new media applications of the day -- Facebook, Flikr, YouTube and all -- have once again become indispensable tools in the repertoires of contention of activists in a less-than-democratic country.

So when Twitter announced Monday it would temporarily suspend the service for an hour the next day it immediately spurred a wave of requests not to take away what has become a key communication and organizational tool for post-election activism. Iran has taken press credentials from foreign media and kicked them out of the country and banned their broadcasts. It [Read More]