Building New Media Institutions in the MENA Region: A Roadmap towards Media Law and Policy reform

This exploratory discussion brought together a small group of participants from the MENA (Middle East and Northern Africa) region with international experts. The method of the workshop, organized by the Center for Global Communication Studies (CGCS) at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, the Internews Network and the CMCS, was to take current developments in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere, as a way of asking how best to gather information, build coalitions, and muster expertise to foster a strong media sector that will undergird democratic development and meaningful reform.

This initial gathering included representatives of various stakeholder groups from the region, including government/policy, media and civil society. The goal was to develop a “roadmap” for the transition in Tunisia and Egypt (with some discussion of prospects for change in other countries in the region). The discussion was directed, in part, by international experts currently engaged with the ongoing processes of change as well as those intimately familiar with the media environment in the region.