BUZZFEED RECENTLY TRANSLATED THE ARABIC VERSION OF HUFFINGTON POST.
ALTHOUGH HUFFINGTON POST IS KNOWN FOR ITS MORE PROGRESSIVE
STANCES ON ISSUES IN THEIR ENGLISH VERSION, IT TURNS OUT
THE ARABIC VERSION IS NOT SO PROGRESSIVE, AND THEY ARE
CATCHING A LOT OF HEAT FOR THAT.
THERE WERE A NUMBER OF
QUESTIONABLE BLOGS THAT WERE POSTED, ONE OF THEM TALKS ABOUT
THE ISSUE OF THE SELFIES.
APPARENTLY SELFIES ARE AN
AMERICAN CULTURE THAT WILL LEAD TO THE DEATH OF ARABIC CULTURE.
APPARENTLY THERE WERE ALSO SOME ANTI-GAY POSTS, AND THERE WAS
CRITICISM OF THE ISSUES BEING DISCUSSED IN CAIRO.
AS YOU CAN
SEE, IT IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM
WHAT IS BEING DISCUSSED WITH HUFFINGTON POST IN THE ENGLISH
VERSION.
I DON'T KNOW WHY I AM HAVING A HARD TIME EXPLAINING
THIS, IT IS ACTUALLY CUT AND DRY AND IT IS
NOT SURPRISING TO ME AT ALL.
APPARENTLY, "IN ANOTHER
ARTICLE FOR THE SITE, AN ALGERIAN COLUMNIST AUTHORED WHAT
WAS INTENDED AS AN OPEN LETTER
TO ALL OF THE ISLAMIC GROUPS, CONDEMNED THE SELFIE AS A
SYMPTOM OF THE DISEASES AND THE
VIRUSES OF THE WESTERN WORLD."
IT IS THOUGHT TO BE A POST THAT
SPREADS THIS NOTION OF EXTREMIST RELIGION, AND PEOPLE ARE AGAINST
IT.
THE BLOG, THE AUTHOR CLAIMED, WAS DESIGNED AS A CALL
TO STOP ADOPTING SUCH SICK BEHAVIORS BECAUSE THEY COME TO DESTROY
OUR TRADITIONS, AND THE BASICS OF
HUMAN CULTURAL IDENTITY.
ARIANNA HUFFINGTON HAS RESPONDED
TO SOME OF THE CRITICISM FROM THIS.
KEEP IN MIND, THESE ARE
BLOG POSTS, THEY ARE WRITTEN AS OPINIONS, NOT STRAIGHT NEWS PIECES.
THIS IS WHAT ARIANNA HUFFINGTON HAD TO
SAY ABOUT THE ARABIC EDITION OF HUFFINGTON POST PRIOR TO ITS
LAUNCH.
SHE SAID, "ONE OF THE REASONS WHY WE'RE GOING TO BE
BASED IN LONDON AND ISTANBUL IS TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT AVOIDING
ANY KIND OF CENSORSHIP AND CONTROL IS ABSOLUTELY KEY TO OUR
COVERAGE.
WE WILL SUPPORT THE EXHIBITORS IN EVERY WAY."
WHAT
HAPPENS WHEN THE CONTRIBUTORS GO AGAINST LIBERAL OR PROGRESSIVE
IDEOLOGY?
THAT IS THE QUESTION HERE.
OF COURSE HUFFINGTON POST
IN GENERAL IS CATCHING A LOT OF
HEAT FOR THIS, BUT THE QUESTION IS, SHOULD THEY BE CATCHING
HEAT?
THE UNITED STATES IS A
VERY DIFFERENT PLACE THAN THE ARAB WORLD, SO TO HOLD THE
ARAB WORLD TO THE SAME STANDARDS AS THE UNITED STATES MAY BE
CONSIDERED UNFAIR, BUT IT DOES DEFINITELY LEAD TO AN
INTERESTING CONVERSATION ABOUT WHAT SHOULD AND SHOULD NOT
STAND ON A FORUM LIKE HUFFINGTON POST.
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?
A LOT OF THIS HAS TO DO WITH EXPECTATIONS, AND A MEDIA
OUTLETíS TONE, AND VOICE, AND
STATED MISSION.
WHEN IT COMES TO HUFFINGTON POST, IT IS A
LITTLE VAGUE AND NEBULOUS EXACTLY WHERE THEY STAND ON THE
SPECTRUM.
IT WOULD BE CLEARER IF WE WERE TALKING ABOUT
FOXNEWS VERSUS MSNBC, THE
TRADITIONAL BROADCAST WORLD.
HUFFINGTON POST TRADITIONALLY
ERRS ON THE SIDE OF PROGRESSIVE POLITICS, AND WHILE ARIANA HUFFINGTON
WAS CLEAR THAT THEY ARE NOT
GOING TO CENSOR ñ AND THESE ARE OPINION PIECES, WHICH IS A VERY
IMPORTANT PIECE OF INFORMATION TO CONTEXTUALIZE THIS ñ I
PERSONALLY FEEL THAT, I THINK IT IS IMPORTANT TO ALWAYS INVITE
DEBATE.
THE PROBLEM IS, AND YOU MIGHT NEED TO DO MORE RESEARCH,
WAS BUZZFEED INTENTIONALLY TRYING TO PUT HUFFINGTON
POST ON BLAST BECAUSE THEY ARE RIVAL COMPETITORS?
I WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED.
SO LOOK AT WHO IS BLOWING THE WHISTLE HERE.
I DO NOT DISAGREE
THAT WITH MEDIA WATCHDOGS THAT WE NEED THAT TO KEEP THE NEWS
GENUINE, AND COMPETITIVE, BUT I'M SURE ñ THE WHOLE POINT IS
THAT THEY NEED TO OFFER VOICES ACROSS THE SPECTRUM, AND BECAUSE
IN THE MIDDLE EAST, OFTEN VOICES OF DISSENT ARE SILENCED, IT IS
SORELY NEEDED.
HUFFINGTON POST HAS THE RESOURCES AND THE
OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE VOICE TO A LOT OF OPPRESSED MINORITY GROUPS
IN THE MIDDLE EAST, WHERE THESE DICTATORSHIPS AND REGIMES, AND
RELIGIOUS EXTREMISTS SILENCE THEM.
I THINK THAT IS THE SENSITIVE PIECE OF THIS IS THAT YOU
WANT HUFFINGTON POST TO BE ABLE TO TAKE A STAND, BUT YOU
ALSO WANT THEM TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE BOTH SIDES OF A DEBATE.
WHAT YOU ARE SAYING IS TOTALLY FAIR.
THE REALITY IS,
THE HUFFINGTON POST, AT LEAST THE ENGLISH VERSION, MIGHT HAVE
A PARTICULAR POLITICAL STANCE.
BUT THERE HAVE BEEN LOTS OF BLOG
POSTS FROM PEOPLE WHERE I DON'T NECESSARILY AGREE WITH THE
STANCE.
THESE PEOPLE, WHETHER THEY ARE CONSERVATIVE OR
WHATEVER, THEY ARE ABLE TO POST A BLOG AND SHARE THEIR VIEWPOINT
IN ORDER TO ENCOURAGE DISCUSSION ON A BOARD, AND THAT IS OKAY.
IN THE CASE OF THE ARABIC VERSION OF THE HUFFINGTON POST,
THEY TOOK DOWN THE ANTI-GAY BLOG AND REPLACED IT WITH A MESSAGE.
"THE ANTI-GAY BLOG WAS REMOVED AND REPLACED WITH THE MESSAGE.
THIS BLOG SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED AS IT CONTRADICTS
HUFFINGTON POST'S EDITORIAL POSITIONS AND GUIDELINES, WHICH
ARE BASED ON ENCOURAGING POSITIVE DIALOGUE AND MUTUAL
RESPECT.
IT HAS THEREFORE BEEN TAKEN DOWN."
IF IT WAS
DOWN BECAUSE THEY FELT IT INCITED VIOLENCE OR DISRESPECTED
A COMMUNITY, I AM TOTALLY FOR IT.
BUT AGAIN, IT IS A DELICATE
BALANCE.
YOU WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE SOME DISSENT ON
YOUR FORUM.
YOU DO NOT WANT TO CENSOR CONTRIBUTORS BECAUSE THEY
MIGHT HAVE AN IDEOLOGY THAT
DISAGREES WITH YOU.
I AM TOTALLY IN SUPPORT OF GAY
RIGHTS, AND I WILL NOT AGREE WITH ANY BLOG POST THAT WANTS TO
BE INTOLERANT OF GAY INDIVIDUALS, BUT AT THE SAME
TIME, IF THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE TRYING TO MAKE SOME SORT OF
RELIGIOUS ARGUMENT AGAINST IT, I DON'T THINK THEY SHOULD BE
STOPPED FROM WRITING IT.
IF THEY ARE INCITING VIOLENCE AND,
OR CAUSING ACTUAL VIOLENCE ONTO A COMMUNITY, THEN IT SHOULD BE
CENSORED.
THAT IS THE BALANCE.
I DO NOT THINK HUFFINGTON POST
IS NECESSARILY DOING ANYTHING WRONG HERE, THEY CANNOT POLICE
EVERY CONTRIBUTION THAT IS MADE
ON THEIR SITE.
I THINK WHAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT IN A SITUATION LIKE
THIS, INSTEAD OF TAKING DOWN THE POST, GO OUT AND ENCOURAGE
VOICES OF OPPOSITION IN THE ARABIC WORLD TO RESPOND TO THAT
OPINION PIECE.
CREATE AN ACTIVE DIALOGUE IN A REGION WHICH,
AGAIN, IS OFTEN VERY HEAVY-HANDED ON ONE SIDE OF THE
DEBATE.
HUFFINGTON POST HAS A REAL OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE, TO
EMPOWER THESE VOICES THAT ARE
OFTEN EXTREMELY DIFFICULT FOR ANY OF US TO HEAR.
BECAUSE THEY ARE SILENCED.
IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT TO KEEP IN
MIND THAT THE POLITICAL CLIMATE IN ONE COUNTRY IS VERY DIFFERENT
FROM THE POLITICAL CLIMATE IN ANOTHER COUNTRY.
THAT'S WHAT I
MEANT WHEN I SAID IT MIGHT BE UNFAIR TO HOLD THE ARABIC
VERSION TO THE SAME STANDARDS AS
THE U.S. VERSION.
JUST BECAUSE THE U.S. VERSION HAS A MORE
LIBERAL OR PROGRESSIVE STANCE,
DOES NOT MEAN IT WILL BE TRUE OVER ALL VERSIONS OF HUFFINGTON
POST.
THERE WILL BE DIFFERENT
VOICES, AND DIFFERENT OPINIONS.
I WANT US TO HAVE A DISCUSSION, EVEN IF SOME PEOPLE ARE
PART OF THE DISCUSSION AND ARE VOICING OPINIONS THAT YOU
DO NOT AGREE WITH.
YOU DO NOT WANT TO DISENFRANCHISE ANYONE IN THE
MEDIA, THE WHOLE IDEA IS THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH, WHICH IS THE
FOUNDATION FOR ALL OF IT.
IN PARTICULAR, YOU ALSO DO NOT WANT
TO BE SOME SORT OF CULTURAL OVERLORD WHEN YOU ARE
FRANCHISING YOUR MEDIA ORGANIZATION TO DIFFERENT
REGIONS.
YOU HAVE TO BE SENSITIVE TO THE INDIGENOUS
DYNAMIC THAT IS THERE, AND AT THE SAME TIME YOU CAN ALSO BE IN
THE BUSINESS OF CREATING A PROGRESSIVE CLIMATE, AND
ALLOWING AN OUTLET FOR THOSE PROGRESSIVE VOICES.
BUT IT IS A
DELICATE DANCE, LIKE ANYTHING IN MEDIA, AND I DO NOT THINK THIS
IS A HUGE BLUNDER BY HUFFINGTON POST, AND I DO NOT THINK THAT WE
SHOULD CONSIDER THEIR ARABIC VERSION AS TOTALLY BEING ON THE
WRONG FOOT, THERE ARE ALWAYS GOING TO BE GROWING PAINS WITH
THESE TYPES OF THINGS.
THERE IS NO CONSPIRACY.
INVOLVING HUFFINGTON POST.
THEY
ARE NOT TRYING TO PLAY BOTH SIDES, AND THEY ARE NOT TRYING
TO BASH THE GAY COMMUNITY BEHIND
OUR BACKS.
I AM GLAD THEY TOOK DOWN THAT POST BECAUSE IT WENT
AGAINST THEIR GUIDELINES, THAT IS THE WAY THINGS ARE SUPPOSED
TO WORK.