That’s right, I said it, the most abhorrent Arabish word to use in an Arab’s presence, let alone directed to an Arab.
In yet another ho-hum “investigative report on the Arab Street” turned into a condescending absolutist Western liberal democratic diatribe on the lack of freedom of expression in the Arab World, CNN assigns correspondent Octavia Nasr with the job of exposing the cultural geographic region’s shortcomings. In this video, Nasr investigates Oprah Winfery’s popularity with the Arab world. Watch the video on CNN’s site to see what I mean.
Nasr makes some startlingly errorneous assertions. How does she get away with making indiscriminate, un-fact-checked claims? By boasting a journalistic resume and a last name that give her credibility? Surprisingly, Nasr, previous to joining CNN to manage the coverage of the first Gulf War in 1991, worked for LBC as a war correspondent, assistant news director and executive producer of new. The worst part about her credentials is that she was actually schooled and worked in the Middle East, so it behooves me that she could make these sweeping amatuer western gumshoe journalist assessments of the ME. And perform occult magic by miracluously vanishing Egyptian TV Star Hala Sarhan and Kalam quartet from ME media landscape. Why were Hala and MBC’s wildly popular “Kalam Nawaem,” who talk to Muslim scholars and guests about Islamic legal opinion on masturbation and with people who talk about their own experiences, not good enough for you Nasr? Sure the ME is not the beacon of democracy, and there are a lot of issues that need to undergo public dialogue, namely wanton sexual harassment in Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. But this piece is ridiculously simplistic and horribly researched. And sadly, by virtue of its association with CNN , will be readily viewed as a credible news story about ME social life.
I would appreciate an apology from either CNN or Nasr for such misleading reporting and for this affront to journalistic credibility.
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It says the video clip is no longer available.
Posted by Anon | May 17, 2009, 12:06 amSo, you are entitled to your opinion, but she isn't entitled to hers? Hmmm… well, if she is misrepresnting Arab culture on CNN, seems like you don't have much right to complain about it, since you misresent American culture right here on this blog.
Posted by programmer craig | May 17, 2009, 8:26 am"This video is no longer available." Hmm…do you think that has anything to do with this post?
Posted by JillianKF | May 17, 2009, 10:34 pmYeah, and KABOBfest really has the same influence and pull as CNN. The mainstream media, PAID and highly watched, has a bigger responsibility than bloggers do in properly representing cultures. That said, I don't think KABOBfest does a bad job of that. And even if we occasionally misrepresent America (which again, I don't really think we do), it doesn't remotely compare to the misrepresentation of Arabs by EVERY SINGLE AMERICAN MEDIA ENTITY.
Posted by JillianKF | May 17, 2009, 10:36 pmwhy no mention of her past working with the lebanese forces? thats important to mention, almost as bad as wolf blitzer working for AIPAC!
Posted by matthew | May 17, 2009, 10:38 pmOK I was going to replay but to be honest I'm too sick of wrestling with this blog software. So just improvise a programmer craig reply to yourself.
Posted by programmer craig | May 17, 2009, 11:01 pmIdiot, you DID reply.
Posted by JillianKF | May 17, 2009, 11:04 pmYeah, two sentences, after about the 5th error message for trying to post a comment that was "too long". You use George Bush level blog software, and call other people idiots? Bleh :p
Posted by programmer craig | May 17, 2009, 11:35 pmwait-matthew, i didn't know about this-do tell!
Posted by maytha | May 18, 2009, 7:36 amwell angry arab has mentioned it in the past (” target=”_blank”>http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/01/octavia-nas… ) but ive heard others in lebanon say the same thing. i think it will be hard to find more info online, at least not in english.
Posted by matthew | May 18, 2009, 7:40 amwell angry arab has mentioned it in the past (” target=”_blank”>http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/01/octavia-nas… ) but ive heard others in lebanon say the same thing. i think it will be hard to find more info online, at least not in english.
Posted by matthew | May 18, 2009, 7:40 amJoin the Boycott of Israel campaign in Michigan!!! 1) Michigan Student Assembly meets on Wednesday, 20th of May at 6:00 PM on the 3rd floor of the union and we will be there again to propose that UM boycott Israel. 2) Ann Arbor Human Rights Commission meets on June 10th at 7:00 PM, and they have already been approached about the issue of Boycotting Israel. Here is the address to the Ann Arbor Human Rights Commission: the 4th floor of City Hall, 100 N. Fifth Ave.
Posted by Join the Boycott | May 18, 2009, 12:58 pmi'm getting the same error, however i did find the following link to a blog article about oprah and the middle east ” target=”_blank”>http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/31/%E2%80%9Cop…
Posted by Samar | May 18, 2009, 6:01 pmi'm getting the same error, however i did find the following link to a blog article about oprah and the middle east ” target=”_blank”>http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/31/%E2%80%9Cop…
Posted by Samar | May 18, 2009, 6:01 pmThanks Samar-there is no denying that Oprah's popularity in the Middle East is wide-spread and that she is the media darling for almost the same demographic of Arab women to their American counterparts. This short blurb does in fact demonstrate my point, that this is such sloppy reporting. Nasr's goal is to do a story about the Arab world and yet, she only really includes the most repressed Arab female voices in the region, namely, Saudi women-which very easily gives the desired effect of imbuing a false sense of saliency to Nasr's liberal democratic argument. Take a look at what I mean: "Buthaina al-Nassr, is also Saudi.. She’s a popular TV personality who is inspired by Oprah. She tells CNN, “We have many great writers, TV presenters and successful talk show hosts but we have no Oprah.. man or woman. The reason is that our governments aren’t ready to see an Arabian Oprah on TV.” Man, I wish the video was retrievable so you could all see what I am talking about. I think I might just contact CNN to see what the deal is. (btw, my rant is not directed at you Samer, but to all the nay-sayers, what do you think of it?)
Posted by maytha | May 18, 2009, 7:50 pmShe has been let go.
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Posted by sleepersofa | April 18, 2011, 5:26 amI must agree with you, it is a good post.
A misleading reporting is horrible. A good journalist shouldn't ever do that.
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Posted by obat herbal online | October 25, 2011, 6:10 amwell angry arab has mentioned it in the past (" target="_blank"> http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/01/octavia-nas..” rel=”nofollow”>;http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/01/octavia-nas... ) but ive heard others in lebanon say the same thing. i think it will be hard to find more info online, at least not in english
Posted by valutakurser | November 6, 2011, 8:07 amI don't know if best practices have emerged around things like that
Posted by makeityourring | November 10, 2011, 10:22 pmHaha…they are so stupid, it's the fact…so interesting topic..
Posted by makeityourring | November 13, 2011, 2:16 amHmm..I found out that Nasr, previous to joining CNN to manage the coverage of the first Gulf War in 1991..
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Posted by frosted window film | November 17, 2011, 11:09 pmIn today's world freedom of expression in Arab still so dificult to realize.. I think
Posted by tlso brace | November 17, 2011, 11:13 pmYeah…I think so…if she is misrepresnting Arab culture on CNN, seems like you don't have much right to complain about it, since you misresent American
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Posted by HGHs | December 28, 2011, 11:38 amThanks Samar-there is no denying that Oprah's popularity in the Middle East is wide-spread and that she is the media darling for almost the same demographic of Arab women to their American counterparts. This short blurb does in fact demonstrate my point, that this is such sloppy reporting. Nasr's goal is to do a story about the Arab world and yet, she only really includes the most repressed Arab female voices in the region, namely, Saudi women-which very easily gives the desired effect of imbuing a false sense of saliency to Nasr's liberal democratic argument. Take a look at what I mean: "Buthaina al-Nassr, is also Saudi.. She’s a popular TV personality who is inspired by Oprah. She tells CNN, “We have many great writers, TV presenters and successful talk show hosts but we have no Oprah.. man or woman. The reason is that our governments aren’t ready to see an Arabian Oprah on TV.” Man, I wish the video was retrievable so you could all see what I am talking about. I think I might just contact CNN to see what the deal is. (btw, my rant is not directed at you Samer, but to all the nay-sayers, what do you think of it?)
Posted by classifieds | January 11, 2012, 10:16 amYeah…I think if she is misrepresnting Arab culture on CNN, seems like you don't have much right to complain on that
Posted by sewa kantor | January 26, 2012, 7:13 pmYes…I agree that she's misrepresnting Arab culture on CNN and it seems like you don't have much right to complain about that
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