Middle East Media Activities

We initiate activities with regional media professionals to improve communication across borders, increase regional understanding, and encourage journalists to challenge their own biases and stereotypes while using the media as a tool for peace and public education on core issues.

Partnership with Palestinian TV Stations
Over the past 3 years, we have developed a strong partnership with the Ma’an Network of independent Palestinian TV stations, covering the West Bank and Gaza. The strengthening of independent media is crucial for stimulating open debate and creating space for alternate voices in today’s political environment.

We produced and broadcast during Ramadan of 2006 an intended-outcome TV drama, Shou Fi Ma Fi ("What’s Up?"), that features Palestinian student life in university dorms tackling daily social and political issues. The show provided creative tools for resolving these issues. We similarly produced and broadcast a TV drama series in 2005.

We conducted a series of intensive, iterative, capacity-building workshops for the Chief Editors of eight local TV stations in the West Bank aimed at producing high quality local TV news programming.

Recently we extended the scope of our work with Palestinian independent television by beginning work on a project to substantially increase the capacities of the Wattan TV station in Ramallah, which is part of the Ma’an network.

Click here to visit the Ma'an Network webpage for Shou Fi Ma Fi.

Palestinian Political Talk Show Television Series
In partnership with the Palestinian NGO Maharat, we have produced the pilot phase of a series of TV talk shows with five quality shows that included an open discussion panel and a live participating audience. Issues for discussion were relevant to Palestinian daily life. These shows were aired on Palestinian Broadcast Channel (PBC) and local TV stations.

Click here to view clips of the talk shows on Maharat's website.

Israeli Intended-Outcome Television Drama Series
SFCG, in partnership with Shinar Communications, plan to produce a season of an Israeli hospital drama to be broadcast on one of Israel’s top TV stations during prime time. In addition to its entertainment value, the show will model the paradigm which exists in Israeli hospital settings whereby professional identity and health concerns trump national identity and Arabs and Jews demonstrate a unique form of coexistence.

Egyptian Television Drama Series
Search for Common Ground is currently in partnership with an Egyptian TV production company to adapt our Nigerian program The Station for Egypt: we are currently in the post-production phase. An accelerated production schedule was followed after the original Nigerian scripts were adapted to the specific Egyptian context.

Common Ground News Service (CGNews)
The Common Ground News Service (CGNews) seeks to promote mutual understanding and offer opportunities for dialogue and constructive suggestions that facilitate peaceful resolution of conflict. We accomplish this goal through providing constructive and solution-oriented news, op-eds, features and analysis to news outlets worldwide on a broad range of issues affecting the Middle East. Our selected weekly articles are translated into Arabic, English, French, Hebrew, Indonesian and Urdu.

CGNews targets media outlets for further republications in the Middle East regional and international press and has succeeded in securing over 4,400 republications of our articles in media outlets as key as Al-Ahram, Al-Ayyam, Al-Hayat, Al-Quds, Arab News, The Christian Science Monitor, The Daily Star, Ha’aretz, International Herald Tribune, The Jakarta Post, The Jerusalem Post, The Jerusalem Report, The Jerusalem Times, The Jordan Times, Le Courrier International, Middle East Times, United Press International, and The Washington Times.

Today, it has over 19,100 subscribers, and an active network of contributing authors and major media partners.

Please click here to subscribe to the CGNews email newsletter.

Eliav-Sartawi Awards for Common Ground Journalism
The annual Eliav-Sartawi Awards for Common Ground Journalism in the Middle East honor journalists whose writing has increased understanding of the peoples of the region and the issues that divide them. This year’s winners are four leading journalists and civil society leaders who have contributed a particularly strong group of articles:

• Akiva Eldar and Salameh Nematt, "Reaching Across the Divide," published simultaneously in Ha'aretz, Al Quds, and The Baltimore Sun.
• Bassam Aramin, "A Plea for Peace from a Bereaved Palestinian Father," originally published in the Forward.
• Gershon Baskin, "When Will It All End," originally published in the Jerusalem Post.

Please click here to read the winning articles on the CGNews website.

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