Criticism of the Middle East should not be directed only at Saudi Arabia. Human rights abuses are happening throughout the Arab world.
Jamal KhashoggiRead
The Arab world needs a modern version of the old transnational media so citizens can be informed about global events. More important, we need to provide a platform for Arab voices.
Interpretation
The Arab world requires updated media channels to keep citizens informed about global affairs and to amplify Arab perspectives.
In this quote, Jamal Khashoggi emphasizes the critical need for modern media in the Arab region that can inform citizens about international news and events. He argues that beyond just providing news, there is a necessity to create a platform that amplifies Arab voices, ensuring representation and fostering dialogue in a global context.
In practice
In a conference about media freedom, this quote can highlight the importance of accessible information.
Criticism of the Middle East should not be directed only at Saudi Arabia. Human rights abuses are happening throughout the Arab world.
I don't want to be a dissident. But in the same time, I don't want to go back home and be silent again.
I just want to be a free writer. I think I am serving my country and my people by providing an independent narrative.
I have left my home, my family, and my job, and I am raising my voice. To do otherwise would betray those who languish in prison. I can speak when so many cannot.
I would like to see evolution in my country, not revolution. It is much better for us to work together with the government to transform Saudi Arabia for the future.
The Arab world is facing its own version of an Iron Curtain, imposed not by external actors but through domestic forces vying for power.
The lowest form of popular culture - lack of information, misinformation, disinformation, and a contempt for the truth or the reality of most people's lives - has overrun real journalism.
I think television's become a downright dangerous thing. It has no moral barometer whatsoever. If you want to talk about something that is all about money, just watch the television.
The newspaper offers something very different from Google's aggregators. It offers a value system, an idea of what matters in the world. Newspapers need to start articulating that value.
The reality is that the media are probably the most powerful of all our institutions today and they, or rather we [journalists], too often are squandering our power and ignoring our obligations. The consequence of our abdication of responsibility is the ugly spectacle of idiot culture!
It's great to engage with the mainstream media to get messages out, but the most empowering tool is to create records of our lives, and our own images, which are not filtered through judgements, biases, or misunderstandings.
The news as entertainment is the real danger, because the truth or accuracy of what it is reporting becomes irrelevant.
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