Abstract

This monograph remedies the general lack of information that exists in the West regarding the Arab press by providing a short history of the Arab print media as well as an in-depth study of translated Arab media sources. Setting the scene, the manuscript begins with a brief historical narrative of Arab newspapers from the 1940s to the mid-1970s, when a free press virtually disappeared. Haddad then explores the historiography of the Arab print media, compiling a valuable collection of available scholarship on the subject and considers the ongoing problem of censorship in Middle East journalism. Haddad then sets about examining the Arab print media’s view of the Arab-Israeli conflict in its first three decades. By giving voice to the Arab political journalists who wrote editorials and opinion pieces, the bulk of the book explores the variety of opinions held in the Arab print media regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict.
William W. Haddad is professor emeritus of history at California State University, Fullerton. Prior to his retirement, he was a university vice president, humanities distinguished professor, and served as chair of the Department of History for twelve years. He also served as chair of the Departments of Afro-American Studies, Asian-American Studies, Gerontology, and Women and Gender Studies as well as the History Department at Illinois State University. Dr Haddad was editor of Arab Studies Quarterly for over a decade and is currently finishing his seventh year as editor of the International Journal of Contemporary Iraqi Studies.