Media Cooperation with the Arab World and Iran
IMS works with the Arab world and Iran to enhance the ability of media to serve as a platform for transparency, diversity, pluralism and accountability in the Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) region. IMS programmes support media professionalism and opportunities to build social capital and mutual understanding between Arab and Danish media workers.Archive
- EU condemns Syria's restrictions on freedom of expression and killings of journalists
- Attacks on Palestinian journalists doubled in 2011
- Syrian blogger released
- Debate: Documenting a revolution
- Syrian filmmaker arrested en route to Denmark
- Amid uncertainty in Libya, a surge of new media
- Setback for press freedom in Egypt
- Egypt: Capturing history in the making
- Marked change in Egyptian state media
- Moroccan youth take on social media
- IMS joins call to protect freedom of expression in Egypt
- Egypt: Point of no return?
- Journalism in Tunisia still risky, says Sihem Bensedrine
- Freedom of expression under fire in Arab world
- World Press Freedom Day: Watch out for "Big Brother"
- New international initiative in support of Iranian media
- Social media and democracy in closed societies
- Turkey's divisions: Not about religion, but about class and ideology
- Turkey a future central player in Middle East
- Iran – a twitter revolution?
- Turkey and the Middle East – Journalist Conference, Damascus
- Filming in the world’s happiest country
- Tunisia’s only independent radio station fights back
- One woman, one camera in the streets of Beirut
- Opening doors for media in the Arab world and Iran
- Lebanese, Jordanian and Syrian broadcasters find common ground
- Want to work with media in the Arab world?
- Iranian journalists forced into hiding
- Online reporting fills reporting gap in Iran
- Regional programme in Arab world approved for next two years
- Sharing a wealth of experiences
- Vacancy: Student Assistant
- One logo - two discourses
- Beirut Conference November 2007
- Media in the line of fire amid unrest in Beirut
- Fostering professional collaboration
- Elections Handbook, Arabic, 2005
- Conflict Sensitive Journalism, Arabic
- Tunisia's media landscape, June 2002
Social media and democracy in closed societies
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In closed societies like Iran where most print and electronic media are state-controlled, the internet and social media can provide a unique platform for accessing and sharing information. But is its potential overstated?
During the elections in Iran in the summer of 2009, the role of the Internet and social media took on a new dimension. Not only for the Iranians who blogged, twittered and You-tubed through the demonstrations linked to the elections, but also as a primary source of information for the rest of the world. Some described the newfound flow of communication inside and out of the country as a twitter revolution.
The NGO Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke and International Media Support invite you to a debate:
What role is the Internet and social media playing in Iran to build democracy? How can social media and traditional media complement each other for the benefit of democratic development in closed societies?
Meet Mahmood Enayat, Iranian blogger, and Director of Iran Project, BBC World Service Trust and Jesper Højberg, Executive Director of International Media Support."
"Social media and democracy in closed societies"
Date: Tuesday, 27 April 2010 from 16:00 – 18:00
Address: Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke, Fælledvej 12. 2200 Copenhagen N
About the panelists:
Mahmood Enayat, who specialises in the democratic potentials of the internet in closed societies at the Oxford Internet Institute, finds that the optimism surrounding the use of the Internet and social media in Iran is overhyped. Instead, focus should be on promoting access and circumventing the limitations imposed on the Internet in Iran.
Jesper Højberg, Executive Director of International Media Support (IMS), discusses the importance of both traditional and new media in building democracy in closed societies.
International Media Support is the only non-profit organisation in the Nordic countries which works specifically on press freedom, supporting local media in more than 30 countries countries affected by armed conflict, human insecurity and political transition.
For more information, please contact Ane Larsen, Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke, tel. 77310084 or Helle Nordberg, International Media Support (IMS), tel. 88327005 or hn[snabela]i-m-s.dk.
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