Arab Journalists are Agents of Change, Study Finds

In the years since the 9/11 attacks, Arab news media have been demonized in the United States and Arab journalists depicted as enemies of democracy.  A study by the American University in Cairo (AUC) shatters these prevailing stereotypes, revealing that much of the conventional wisdom that has shaped U.S. public diplomacy policy toward the region lacks substance.

AUC interviewed over 600 journalists in 13 Arab countries in North Africa, the Levant, and the Arabian Peninsula, with representation from all major pan-Arab news organizations.  Seventy-five percent of respondents in the study, funded by the RBF, identified creating social and political reform in the Middle East as their top priority.  While many Arab journalists say they dislike the United States government and condemn America's actions in the Middle East, 62 percent have a favorable view of the American people. However, Arab journalists doubt America's sincerity when it calls for Arab democratic reform or a Palestinian state. 

The survey results have been published in the July issue of The International Journal of Press/Politics, and have received extensive U.S and international press coverage.