Focus on the Reader Rajeh Khoury, Political Analyst, An-Nahar, Lebanon Successful independent newspapers must have a strong focus on the reader, said Mr Khoury in opening a session on combining editorial independence with commercial success. "True independence means ownership belongs to the readers. It isn’t what the political system wants it to be. It isn’t journalism that wants to blind people, but enlighten them," he said. Mr Khoury said there was no great formula for success. "The reader is the master. He is the guarantor of survival. There are no secrets, there are no complex equations here." But to satisfy the reader, "the basic condition is freedom. This is the link between the reader and the paper and will guarantee success." Competing with the Government Mohamed Alayyan, Publisher, Al Ghad, Jordan Mr Alayyan likes having the government as a competitor -- up to a point. He noticed, for example, that the government newspapers had low circulation but high profits. They had no home delivery. And they did not appeal to young people or women, in a country where 70 percent of people are below the age of 30. So Mr Alayyan launched a home-delivered newspaper that appealed to young people and women. He installed strong editorial guidelines to protect its independence. In three years, it has become the leading independent newspaper in Jordan and the second largest in terms of circulation. But having the government as a competitor causes problems as well. Civil servants favour government newspapers when it comes to giving information. And it is easy in the Arab world for an independent newspaper to run into trouble with the authorities. "You cannot be revolutionary, you have to be evolutionary," said Mr Alayyan. "You can’t say, ’I’m going to turn the tables’, because it won’t get you anywhere and may get you into jail. It is important to adapt and you have to keep pushing the envelope slowly to get to your goal, to get to -- if there is such a thing -- absolute freedom of speech." Mr Alayyan’s presentation was a case study of Al Ghad’s editorial and commercial strategies. Here is some of his advice.:  Accuracy and objectivity are paramount, as is presenting all views and striving to be fair. Mr Alayyan said this approach has won respect, even when the authorities don’t like the coverage.  Serve your readers, and provide them with a platform for their own points of view. Al Ghad includes a daily page of readers comments, and more opportunities on digital platforms.  Position yourself as the news outlet that provides the truth, but more. Engage your readers and convince them that "we are helping them to a better life." A Recipe for Success Nadia Al Saqqaf, Editor-in-Chief, Yemen Times There is no such thing as absolute independence, said Ms Al Saqqaf. "You are not living alone," she said. "There are a lot of things that affect us. We have to create relationships that don’t jeopardize our position. What you have to determine is what you have to do so that your environment doesn’t dictate what you should be doing." Ms Al Saqqaf advised independent newspapers in the Arab world to pick their battles and avoid those that could lead to destruction. Because what good is independence if the newspaper ceases to exist? The Yemen Times, an English-language newspaper aimed at an elite audience in the country, has managed to become profitable while maintaining its independence. Ms Al Saqqaf has a three-step recipe for success:  Emphasise your independence. Provide unbiased coverage, and proudly let people know you are independent through public relations and image promotion activities.  Make sure your development is sustainable -- satisfy customers without compromising policy, invest in staff, identify core issues and diversify communication channels for future growth.  Generate income and control costs. Success Generates Success Ali Anousia, Editor-in-Chief, Al-Massae, Morocco Freedom, editorial independence and professionalism are the three foundations of good journalism, said Mr Anousia, whose paper has become the largest in Morocco. There is always danger for the independent paper, since it has based its success on bold reporting, sometimes on "taboo" issues. But it’s very success -- sales of 134,000 daily, sometimes reaching upwards of 200,000 -- has offered it a level of protection, said Mr Anousia. "The expansion of the newspaper has helped it impose itself in the political arena," he said. "Some politicians and government officials who tried to boycott the newspaper because it criticised their policies have tried to adapt to the newspaper." "The same applies to advertisers," he said. "Even the advertisers that used to boycott us, because they thought the authorities weren’t with us, have come around." But Mr Anousia said it was important not to take success for granted. In the Moroccan media environment, displeasing the authorities could bring it all tumbling down. "We are used to the moodiness of the authorities in Morocco," he said. Cross-cultural Blogging Mohammad Azraq, blogger, Jordan Weblogs offer an opportunity to hold international discussions on topics that are taboo for traditional Arab media, said Mr Azraq, in opening a session on blogs as an alternative way of telling the news. He described several blogs, including a network called Mideast Youth, which draws bloggers from Tunisia, Morocco, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, the United States, and even Israel. The network includes text, podcasts and video. "The purpose of the network is to dialogue with each other, to share our views as young people who live in the region, on culture and politics," said Mr Azraq. "We talk about things that our societies consider taboo -- religion, sex, homosexuality even. Things that are not broached in mainstream media." "Because They Care" Ahmed Al-Omran, blogger, Saudi Arabia The margins of freedom of expression have expanded somewhat in Saudi Arabia, thanks to young bloggers, said Ahmed Al-Omran. "Young Saudis need a free space where they can speak for themselves," he said. "Blogging has provided a good platform for these voices to flourish." Because of cultural restrictions and censorship, bloggers tend to be more conservative in Saudi Arabia than they might be elsewhere, but less so than traditional Saudi media. Some blogs have been permanently or temporarily blocked, and the few bloggers who write under their own names risk interrogation and closure. Still, bloggers have been able to cover issues ignored by the mainstream press, said Ahmed Al-Omran, including a woman’s protest in central Riyadh, women’s rights in general, health care and bureaucracy and other issues. "They don’t do it for the money, they do it because they care," he said. Blogs Are a Trusted Medium Wael Abbas, blogger, Misr Digital blog, Egypt Bloggers and blogging have become a conduit for trusted information in Egypt, said Wael Abbas, whose posting of a video of a Cairo man being beaten and sexually assaulted by police was credited with pressuring authorities and leading to three-year jail sentences for two of the policeman involved in the assault. The posting of such torture evidence led You Tube to temporarily close his account, which was re-opened after an international outcry. Bloggers in Egypt take great risks of arrest and attack, but "we have a need for information in Egypt that is not censored, that calls for democracy and supports human rights," he said. They have become trusted sources of information, and, in fact, are beginning to serve what has been a traditional journalism role -- sources of sensitive stories are now taking them to the bloggers, not the newspapers. "Readers are trying to get information that is not given by traditional media," said Wael Abbas. "The bloggers are tackling subjects not tackled by the traditional newspapers." Bloggers and Newspapers Working Together Ahmad Salman, Deputy General and IT Manager, As-Safir, Lebanon Ahmad Salman says bloggers and environmental activists are in the same boat. "I like to think of them (bloggers) as Greenpeace activists, in a small boat facing a big oil spill, and they’re holding up a banner," he said. "It is as if they’re saying, ’I want to be a journalist, but I don’t want to use the traditional methods.’" Newspapers are using blogs in new ways as well. During the recent Lebanese-Israeli war, blogs were used to provide details to the population. In the current political crisis, a blog keeps readers informed about procedural delays and constitutional issues. And blogs exist for specific communities -- a site for Peugeot car lovers, for example, with information about where to get spare parts. "This is a new pattern for freedom of expression. There is now a new generation of journalists, if you want to call them that, and there is no contradiction with traditional journalism, it enhances what we are doing," said Ahmad Salman. A Win-Win Situation? Wadih Tueni, IT Manager, An-Nahar, Lebanon A weblog is "a personal diary, a daily pulpit, a political soapbox, a breaking news outlet, a collection of links. Simply, it is a website, personalised," said Mr Tueni. He presented both the pros and the cons of weblogs. On the positive side, they are a medium of free expression in regions ruled by dictatorships, and they can "push and shove" traditional journalists to do a better job. On the negative side, not all support freedom, they are an unreliable source of information, sometimes biased and unfair, and the material is not always appropriate for young readers. But they can provide a "win-win" situation in tandem with newspapers, he said, if blogs link back to newspaper content, driving traffic, and if they convince newspapers to follow certain stories that might otherwise be ignored. Freedom and More Freedom Rafik Khoury, Editor-in-Chief, Al Anwar, Lebanon What can independent journalists do when governments own most of the media? "The main thing is, we have to stick to freedom and the solution is even more freedom and solidarity among journalists," said Mr Khoury in opening the final conference session on finding solutions to the press freedom problems in the Arab world. Mr Khoury said five conditions helped support press freedom in Lebanon: the strength of the independent press, which provides depth and analysis to readers; the strength of the civil society, which provides protection to the press as it protects its own right to free information; the strength of professional journalist and legal groups, which are mutually supportive; the strength of the justice system; and the support of international organisations. "There Are No Prisons That Can Hold the Free Word" Hassan Kamel, Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression, Syria "There are no prisons that can hold the free word," said Mr Kamel, who read a paper prepared for the conference by his colleague Mazen Darwish, who was prevented by Syrian authorities from traveling to Lebanon. Here are some of his thoughts: "Freedom of speech is the main problem for journalism. We can’t settle for less." "We need to benefit from the democratic values we see in other countries." "We need to implant within journalists the criteria of professionalism, and let them know the importance of being independent." Practical Steps for Improving Journalism in the Arab World Abdelrahmin Abdallah, Journalism Unit Coordinator, Media Institute/Birzeit University, Palestine Arab journalists need to communicate with each other more frequently to improve their craft, said Mr Abdallah, who suggested the following:  The establishment of a regional "club" for independent journalists, communicating via an e-mail network.  Training scholarships offered by Arab newspapers that would encourage journalists to learn from one another.  Partnerships between civil society and journalism groups.  Media literacy education on the schools, so that readers can learn to identify good journalism from bad. The More Things Change... Said Essoulami, Director, Center for Media Freedom, Morocco Arab governments have frequently promised to reform their media regulations in recent years, "but the process of degradation and deterioration of media continues," said Mr Essoulami. "All the promises were not kept, for many reasons," he said. "We believe the international community, the G-8 countries, the United States, have stopped pressuring Arab governments. They want their support in Iraq, they want their support against Iran, and they want their support to combat the terrorism threat. The pressure on them has been reduced or disappeared." Mr Essoulami said existing structures for building press freedom were weak and needed to be strengthened or even replaced. Specifically:  Journalist unions and societies in the region are mostly part of the authoritarian security system. "It would be difficult to talk about reforming these unions without reforming the whole political system," he said.  Attempts to create regional press freedom support groups have failed because local NGOs in the region have failed to agree on mechanisms for cooperation.  International and intergovernmental organisations have been ineffective in promoting press freedom.  International NGOs are opening new offices in the region, but have been timid. "We want them to be more vocal, to confront and authorities and not be shy," he said. Mr Essoulami suggested the creation of a regional research project on the status of press freedom advocates in the Arab world that would examine their structures and be used for developing training initiatives.