“We have to admit there is a new world a new type of journalism which is a real competitor and we have to come up with ways to serve the readers and viewers in a better way,” said Walid Noueihed, deputy chief editor of Al Wasat newspaper, in Bahrain. Traditional media has a big problem in conveying different points of view, he added, and self-censorship is present especially in the Arab press.

There is a danger that electronic journalism is closer to the people than traditional media; though traditional media may be able to provide better quality.”

Now I’ve never read a single issue of Al Wasat apart from the fact that I just know it’s a Arabic Daily based in Bahrain and I’m not for or against them – taking a neutral stance there but what exactly is Walid trying to say? How exactly does traditional media provide better quality than electronic journalism?, anyone care to explain?

Thanks!

In fact, here is a one by Diana Mkallid – Asharq Al-Awsat about blogging in Arabia. [Hat tip: Ahmed]

Your are doing a nice job to help blogging find a place in the Arab media.

I just want to say “Bayyath Allah Wajhek” :)
(you lived in Kuwait and you know what does it mean).

I hope in the near future more Arabs (esp. Media) will know the influence of blogs.

Take Kuwait for an example. During the “Ruling Crisis” (Azmat Al-Hukm) four kuwaiti bloggers covered the daily news on their blog: Sahat Al-Sufat
kuwaitjunior.blogspot.com
They covered what daily newspapers didn’t have the guts to publish. Even Kuwaitis who never used a computer started asking “what do they say in Sahat Al-Sufat today?”.

So I think that challenges will show how influential blogs are (well not all of them).

As for Aljazeera, yes the top management and the people taking care of aljazeera.net are very much keen to start ‘blogging’ based projects.

On the other hand, I can confirm that through out the 6 sessions of the forum, in each and every one, blogging was one of the main topics raised. However, I can also confirm that other than Aljazeera, the Arab media didn’t really have much an idea about blogging, until all were introduced to it through the dedicated blogging panel.

Last but not least, I have good news for you and Bahrain bloggers. I agreed with the Chief Editor of Alwasat newspaper that they will do a big report about blogging in general, and Bahrain bloggers in particular, maybe one full page report. After that, a bi-weekly or monthly article will be published in their newspaper. Let me know when we can meet and we’ll go through the details.

Did you find that they actually understood what blogging and citizen journalism is all about and do you think they (Al-Jazeera and more importantly the Arab MSM) welcome and use this new medium?