Al Jazeera

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February 26, 2013 | 10:57 AM | By  | 

Mixed Reactions to the DR Congo Peace Deal | 

Credit: Oxfam
Families on the move to escape the current fighting, eastern DRC; Credit

There is a new peace deal in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, the outlook is mixed.

11 countries (DRC, Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia) signed onto the deal at the EU headquarters in Ethiopia.

The Central African coalition agreed to provide support, including 2,500 troops, to stabilize a country that has been beset by conflict for decades.

It’s not stable yet, and many are uncertain if this negotiated deal will accomplish much. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Politics, Al Jazeera, BBC, Bosco Ntaganda, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, DR Congo, DRC, Howard Buffett, Kagame, Laura Seay, Mark Goldberg, Rwanda, The Terminator, Tony Blair, UN Dispatch
September 4, 2012 | 10:49 AM | By  | 

Bill and Melinda Gates on Al Jazeera | 

No new ground broken, but it may be of interest to see how Al Jazeera portrays the world’s most powerful philanthropists and the questions they ask. The music accompanying the introduction is kind of weird and scary ….

Melinda, responding to a question about how they respond to the critics of their various philanthropic strategies, says: “Criticism at the end of the day actually helps you… It helps you fine-tune what you want to do.”

FILED UNDER: Basics, Al Jazeera, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
February 9, 2012 | 12:05 PM | By  | 

One view on the Arab Spring: From Syrian jail cell to Muslim feminists | 

I’ve known journalist D Parvaz for a decade and may never quite see the world the way she does.

But it’s worth trying.

Parvaz is a reporter for Al Jazeera and was formerly a colleague of mine for many years at the (dearly departed print version) Seattle Post Intelligencer newspaper — now Seattlepi.com

She returned to Seattle this week to moderate a talk at Seattle Town Hall by Wael Ghonim, the Google executive who used Facebook to help spark the Egyptian revolution.

Tom Paulson

D Parvaz and Wael Ghonim at Seattle Town Hall

It was a great talk and Ghonim’s story is fairly well-known, as described here on NPR, in part to publicize his new book Revolution 2.0.

But a lot of the folks in the packed room would have liked to hear from D (technically, it’s ‘Dorothy’ but she prefers D). Ghonim tried to get Parvaz to talk about that moment last year when she was world famous – jailed by Syrian officials for attempting to report on protests there.

Held for nearly three weeks, first in Syria and then later in Iran after being secretly deported there for more interrogations, many think she’s lucky to be alive.

D refused to talk last night about her own experiences and perspectives, so I will. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Basics, Al Jazeera, Arab Spring, Dorothy Parvaz, iran, media, Syria, Wael Ghonim
May 3, 2011 | 8:23 AM | By  | 

Dorothy Parvaz — friend and fellow journalist, now deported to Iran | 

Seattle PI

D Parvaz

Maybe you’ve heard about it already, but former Seattle PI reporter and columnist Dorothy Parvaz went missing in Syria weeks ago.

UPDATE: Syrian authorities, who finally admitted arresting her have now said she has been deported to Iran.

Go to the Free Dorothy Facebook page for further details and information on how best to help bring her home.

Journalists take risks to make sure people’s stories are told, to shine a light on wrongdoing based on the belief that public awareness is the first step toward positive change. Today happens to be World Press Freedom Day, this year hosted by the U.S.

D, as she prefers to be known, now works for Al Jazeera English, which contrary to popular opinion has done a lot to support freedom and democracy around the world.

If you think Al Jazeera is the Fox News of the Arab world, think again. It is no friend to Arab dictators and was widely viewed (by many despots) as having done more than any Western media to provide aggressive coverage to the uprising in the Middle East at the beginning (in Tunisia) and, frankly, does an excellent job of covering the news anywhere. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Politics, Al Jazeera, Dorothy Parvaz, journalism, media, Syria
March 10, 2011 | 9:09 AM | By  | 

If Congress de-funds NPR, let’s create NGR — National Global Radio | 

photobucket

Okay, these might not be the best of times to be at NPR — unless you are an adherent of the PT Barnum school of promotion that believes: “Any publicity is good publicity.”

Now, I have my own opinion of everything from the Juan Williams’ sacking to the secret videotaping of an unfortunately outspoken NPR fund-raiser (not a journalist, mind you … an important distinction), to Vivian Schiller’s forced resignation as CEO in the probably vain hope it will reduce the political heat on NPR right now.

But given everything that’s going on, I probably shouldn’t offer my opinion. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Al Jazeera, CNN, Hillary Clinton, journalism, media, NPR