Chowraha

The original post was published on Project Carousel of SOAS and you can find it here: http://www.projectcarousel.org/2010/03/addicted-in-afghanistan/ Last Thursday, on March 11 2010, SOAS held the London Premiere of the film “Addicted in Afghanistan.” Khalili Lecture Theatre was packed at 6:00 pm from people who had been queing up since 5:15 pm eager to watch Jawed Taiman’s film on the addiction to narcotics in Afghanistan covered via the lives of two young best friends Jabbar and Zahir, boys aged between 14 and 16. The film was gripping from its very first scene as it took the audience through the journey of these two boys, happy in their childhood but gripped in one of the most sad state of affairs in the world. Both were addicted to opium. What especially saddened me and definitely caught the audience’s emotions was when in the very beginning Jabbar looks to his dad and says (referring to Jawed’s film), “He is going to show this to the world!” to which his dad responds “so what?” a...

A view of Cairo from the Citadel in Islamic Cairo AUC's old campus in Tahrir Square (downtown) AUC's new campus in New Cairo (both top and bottom pics) I meant to be more consistent with my posts (reporting from Cairo), but I'm lacking a bit in time management skills. Well, attending the American University in Cairo (AUC) has been a completely different, and at times opposite, experience from simply living in Cairo. It's as if they are completely different worlds. AUC has a reputation in the Middle East of being the best university in all of Egypt. And being the best comes with being the most expensive as well. Other reputable universities are Cairo University and Ein Shams University. Al Azhar University was once highly regarded as well, but today it's only considered to be good for learning Arabic. Among these universities and throughout the country, Egyptians know that AUC's student population mostly consists of students from the elite class. Many of them are...

School of oriental and african studies (soas) Good Media, Bad Media : How News-Making Practices Make Stories News Worthy and Their Impact on Society The Transnational News Environment : Production , Representation and Use Fiza Fatima Asar 4/1/2010 [This paper looks at the case study of a video which was released on Pakistani television channels in Apr il 2009 and later circulated internationally via satellite television and internet. Although it immediately provoked demonstrations all across Pakistan, it was later learned that the facts around the video were quest ionable. The case study reveals how news-making practices and the global as well as local political environment can turn stories into news and sheds light on their impact in society. ] Good Media, Bad Media: How News-Making Practices Make Stories News Worthy and Their Impact on Society On April 3 rd 2009 a video was released on Pakistani television channels showing a 17 year old girl being publicl y flogged. The in...