Middle East Eisenhower Fellow Visits CIME

CIME Staff

Eisenhower Fellow Mr. Muamar Orabi Nakhla and Kayeromi Gomez

CIME's relationship with Eisenhower Fellowships grew stronger this month with another visit from the Philadelphia-based organization. This time, the Center was honoured to host Eisenhower Fellow Mr. Muamar Orabi Nakhla, Director General of Wattan TV in Ramallah, Palestine.

Mr. Nakhla was in Chicago to meet with experts in the media industry, with the goal of exploring and identifying the tools for effective investigative reporting, new media and online journalism.

During his stay, Mr. Nakhla met with CIME President Mr. Kayeromi Gomez to discuss ethics as it relates to the Palestinian media. He said that the media in the Middle East is in great need of services offered by the Center for International Media Ethics, and he will be delighted to develop a partnership with CIME to foster professionalism and ethical reporting among his colleagues. He also urged the leadership of CIME to consider Palestine as a location that would greatly benefit from a CIME Forum in the future.

"Because of the upcoming elections in Palestine, the Palestinian reporters will benefit from an ethical program that combines training with ethics discussions to produce a fair and balanced coverage of the elections that will enhance democracy," he asserted.

Mr. Nakhla explained that Wattan TV is a secular station founded on democratic values. Under the leadership of Mr. Nakhla, the station has seen its staff and popularity increase to the point of now enjoying the highest viewership in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It is set to expand even more in the coming years, with plans of building a national news agency and introducing a satellite service.

His visit to CIME came at a time when Wattan TV is trying to ensure objective reporting in the midst of a tumultuous media environment, facing stiff competition from media outlets supported by political organizations in the region.