The impact of satellite television channels in the Arab and Islamic worlds is one of the most hotly debated topics in media, academic, and policy circles today: Is Al Jazeera anti-American "Jihad TV" or the region's best hope for opening free debate and promoting democracy? Are US public diplomacy efforts winning the battle for hearts and minds or wasting taxpayer dollars? What are the cultural and social consequences of sexy pop stars like Ruby and Nancy Ajram. "Transnational Broadcasting Studies (TBS)" is at the forefront of all these debates and more, offering essays, interviews, analysis, and reportage from the top researchers, journalists, and analysts in the field. Published, over the past six years, as a bi-annual e-journal of the Adham Center for Television Journalism at the American University in Cairo and the Middle East Centere at St. Antony's College, University of Oxford, "Transnational Broadcasting Studies" has established itself as a vital niche publication in the field of Arabic satellite broadcasting.
TBS will now be published as a peer-reviewed, hard-copy (print) journal to be distributed worldwide on a single issue or subscription basis by the American University in Cairo Press. The theme of TBS's inaugural print issue is "Culture Wars: The Arabic Music Video Controversy", and includes articles by Oxford anthropologist Walter Armbrust and popular Muslim TV preacher Amr Khaled, as well as an interview with Ruby, the controversial Egyptian pop idol. Each issue will feature a special theme and feature articles commissioned by some of the Arabic and non-Arabic media world's leading figures.