National Geographic will begin publishing an Arabic edition in October, with distribution covering 15 countries — including Libya.
According to Menassat, a Beirut-based organization that focuses on press freedom in the Arabic-speaking world:
Muammar al-Gaddafi, who spearheaded a coup in Libya in 1969 — and who has controlled the country ever since.
Libya has one of the worst press freedom records in the Arab world. Reporters without Borders classifies the press situation in Libya country [sic] as a “very serious situation” – the bleakest category in their classification. It occupies rank 152 out of 168 in their Index of Press Freedom. … The World Press Freedom Review by the International Press Institute notes that Libya is “home to one of the world’s worst human rights regimes and, wholly devoid of any independent media; indeed, it is consistently referred to as having one of the worst press freedom environments.” Furthermore, the report states that “journalists are not free to express criticism of the state, the political system or the country’s leader and many sensitive topics, such as the plight of the Berber minority or high-level corruption are considered off-limits.” According to the Committee to Protect Journalists Libya belongs to the ten most censored countries in the world. The Freedom House report on Freedom of the Press states that “Libyan journalists continue to operate under some of the most restrictive laws in the world and in an extremely repressive climate. Press freedom, like all other public political activity, is illegal, and harsh laws impose life imprisonment and even death sentences on those who dare cross the regime. A public opponent can face a firing squad if he commits vaguely defined violations such as tarnishing Libya’s image abroad or disseminating information that opposes the principles of the constitution.”
And perhaps most important: What has our Society sacrificed or changed in recent years to pass muster with “one of the world’s worst human rights regimes”?
In October, National Geographic magazine will launch its new Arabic edition, which will be distributed to 15 countries in the Middle East and North Africa, including the United Arab Emirates.
Why do UAE officials welcome National Geographic but want to ban Blackberries? According to one columnist, the government considers its population “vulnerable to foreign cultural influences.” Blackberries exacerbate that vulnerability, but evidently NGM does not. Which is logical when you consider the feature stories in this month’s issue of the magazine:
King Tut’s DNA (more Egyptian mummies from our friend Zahi Hawass) A Fabled Aussie Island (landscapes) Madagascar’s Pierced Heart (natural resources) Dazzling Insect Eggs The Mystery of Eels
Of the 92 photographs in this issue, only 24 of them include people, and most of those people are not named. They’re just local folks, faceless natives — without a voice, without an identity, and without a point of view. By removing people from the pages of NGM and focusing instead on The Planet, our Society has eliminated those pesky “cultural influences” that might restrict the growth of our global media brand into regions where democracy and freedom of speech are not priorities.
He must love those stories about insect eggs and eels.
In a recent post at Buzz Machine, Jeff Jarvis offers eight ideas on what magazines must do to survive — and this one tops the list:
Jeff Jarvis
1. Ignore print. Enable community. Yes, print is where the revenue is today. But it’s only going to shrink. Preserving print — and the past — is no strategy for the future. The physical costs of production and distribution are killing. The marketing cost of subscriber acquisition and churn is hellish. The editorial costs of maintaining gloss are wasteful if not sinful. So concentrate instead on your relationships with your like-minded souls among the people formerly known as your audience. In a social (post-brand, post-search) market, these magazines still have tremendous if very perishable value if you know how to unlock it because their people care about the same stuff. Enable communities to build and meet and create value around their interests…. Enable them to do what they want to do and follow along. Before you follow the money, follow the passion.
Couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
But here’s the question for NGS: What community has the National Geographic Society enabled that allows members to look not at the stage (where the ads are displayed), but sideways to other members? How can we find out who else is part of this (nominal) community?
“That’s what makes New York special and different and strong….”
- Mayor Michael Bloomberg (:34 to :42)
As National Geographic prepares to launch its Arabic edition in Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen (among other countries), we think yet again about the disastrous editorial trade-offs we’re making.
PixBoomBa is a new project from two talented photographers who figured out that although National Geographic is a big part of their past, it need not be the biggest part of their future. (Good luck with it, guys.)
Caralee Adams
Daniel Bachhuber
Roger Baumgarten
David Beveridge
Bob Clark
David Cohn
Daniel Conover
Lynda DeWitt
Kevin Enochs
Bruce Fredrickson
Marc Gunther
Retha Hill
Jeff Howe
Rick Johnson
Leon Kass
Carol Kaufmann
Tom Kennedy
Mike Klesius
Lisa Moore LaRoe
Mindy McAdams
Reuben Musgrave
Claire Sale
Carol Schwalbe
Paul Seebeck
Nina Simon
Sibley Verbeck
Priit Vesilind
David Weinberger
Philip Zipin
Anything here look interesting? We hope so. If you have any questions or comments, please let us know.
About
Hi. I'm Alan Mairson. I'm a freelance journalist based in Bethesda, Maryland; a former staff writer & editor for National Geographic magazine; and a member & lifelong fan of the National Geographic Society. For details about this project, please see our inaugural post. For more about my advisers & me, see this. And to share ideas, dive in here. Thanks.
