Believing in the job: Press freedom in the Middle East and North Africa by The Backstory: A media freedom podcast

Journalists working in the the Middle East and North Africa face some of the biggest challenges to the profession anywhere in the world. The area has seen great upheaval in recent years, with revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, and conflicts that have engulfed the region, like the current war in Gaza. But journalists remain dedicated to promoting the truth, working both pragmatically and creatively to ensure that their stories reach the rest of the world. In this episode we dip into the immense challenges facing the media industry in the MENA region, with:
- Malek Khadhraoui, director of Tunisian investigative magazine Inkyfada
(https://inkyfada.com/fr/author/malek-khadhraoui/)
- Ayman Mhanna, executive director of the Samir Kassir Foundation's Skeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom in Beirut, Lebanon (https://www.skeyesmedia.org/en/)
- Diana Moukalled, founder of media platform Daraj, in Lebanon (https://daraj.media/en/author/dfb37d025b8e3227fbe94311703e8c8b/)
- Rasha Qandeel, Egyptian journalist, professor at the American University in Cairo (https://www.youtube.com/user/rashaqandeel/videos)

The Backstory production team is Andrew Heslop, Mariona Sanz, Irene Abalo, Colette Davidson and Sarah Elzas, who edited and mixed the episode.

Music in this episode: Something Elated by Swelling (https://swelling.bandcamp.com/track/night-ii)