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February 15th, 2007

   

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Arabisc: Are the Americans Bribing Arab Journalists?

Amira Al Hussaini · 17:00 · Middle East & North Africa
lingua → zhs

Are the Americans bribing Arab journalists? And how should Arab journalists react?

These are the sensitive questions posed by Jordanian blogger and writer Batir Wardam in his blog, Jordan Watch, this week as he discusses the merits of familiarisation trips for Arab journalists, paid for by the US State Department.

Wardam is careful in bringing up the issue for discussion and apologises in advance to his colleagues in the media, who may have benefited from such trips in the past. He also invites them to debate the matter in mainstream media and see what works best for them.

سأكتب في موضوع حساس أرجو أن لا يأخذه أحد من الزملاء الإعلاميين بشكل شخصي، وهدفي الوحيد في هذا المقال هو طرح هذه المسألة للنقاش في وسطنا الإعلامي، واحترام الآراء المختلفة بدون أن نهدف إلى فرض رأي واحد وتوجيه الاتهامات بشكل عشوائي، لأن القضية فعلا تستحق النقاش في البيت الإعلامي الأرد
“I will write about a sensitive topic and I hope that none of my colleagues in the media will take the matter personally. My main aim in bringing up this matter is to open it for discussion in our media circles. I respect all the different opinions without having to impose one view and point fingers at random. This is a topic which should be discussed in the Jordanian media,” he writes.
وما أتحدث عنه هو برنامج السفارة الأميركية في الأردن الذي يوجه الدعوة للإعلاميين سنويا لزيارة الولايات المتحدة والإطلاع على الواقع السياسي والثقافي فيها وتكون هذه الزيارات مدفوعة الثمن بالكامل من ميزانية وزارة الخارجية الأميركية. هذا بالإضافة إلى الدعوات التي تقدمها السفارة الأميركية لبعض الإعلاميين للنقاش معها في السفارة أو في أماكن أخرى على عشاء عمل أو خلال دورات تدريبية وغي
“What I am talking about is the programme sponsored by the Amercian Embassy in Jordan which invites media personalities to visit the United States and learn more about its culture and politics. Those trips are fully funded by the US State Department. In addition, the Embassy also invites media personalities to the embassy for discussions over dinner or during training sessions,” he explains.

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Anniversary of Islamic Revolution and Iranian Bloggers

A small portrait of the translator Hamid Tehrani · 15:47 · Middle East & North Africa
lingua → zhs

Several bloggers have written about their feelings, experiences and opinions about Islamic Revolution, with some celebrating its 28th anniversary on 11 February and others regreting it. Let's look at some of these writings.

Mohmmad Ali Abtahi, a former vice president and reformist politician, says the Islamic Revolution was one of the most important events in human history[Fa] “where the flower replaced the bullet.” He adds the unity of people makes this revolution possible. Abtahi says the people's negative thoughts regarding authorities at present cannot reduce the value of revolution.

In ViewfromIran we read another point of view on revolution. The blogger says:

I was happy about the revolution. Now I am like millions of my fellow countrymen who, like me, as young men and women, went to the streets to cheer on the revolution and to shout down with America, and who now feel betrayed and devastated. Will the young people yelling the same thing today learn from me? Will they be like me? Regretful? Homeless?

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Santiago, Chile: New Transportation System

A small portrait of the translator Rosario Lizana · 13:54 · Americas
lingua → es

This week marked the debut of the new public transportation system, called Transantiago (ES) . The government and private companies have invested (ES) US$ 292.5 million. Changing the transportation system is a major issue, because they also had to change people's habits. No more coins, no more waiting times. No long journeys. This system is run in the capital of Santiago with its population of over 5 million.

On its first day, hundreds of complaints about its service have circulated the Chilean Blogosphere. Every social change in behaviour takes some time to adjust. This new system only started on Februrary 10 so we need some time to get used to it.

Luis Alarcón (ES) has his own view of Transantiago, which also gives us an idea of what the transportation system was like before and the dimension of the change:

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