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<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Dear Colleague,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>An extract from our review of Arab
Mass Media (William A. Rugh. Praeger, 2004.) may be of interest to you in this
regard:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Transition toward a freer press is
manifested by a select group of states including Algeria, Egypt, Jordan <BR>and
Tunisia, where the press vacillates between support for government positions and
social criticism. <BR>Emergent freedom of expression, albeit under strict state
control, is symptomatic of the TPM [Transitional <BR>Print Media]system owing to
extant laws limiting freedom of the press. However, future developments
<BR>under these regimes remain uncertain. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>(Archibald, J. & M. Guidère. (May
2005). "Arab Mass Media: Newspapers, Radio and television in Arab
Politics".<BR>Middle Eastern Studies 41(3):453.)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Liss Jeffrey, a professor of
communication studies at the University of Toronto's McLuhan
Program, (<A
href="http://www.mcluhan.utoronto.ca/lissjeffrey.htm">http://www.mcluhan.utoronto.ca/lissjeffrey.htm</A>)
had also proposed a boycott of the Tunis Summit at the time when the Canadian
Commission for UNESCO was considering recommendations for Canada's participation
in the Summit. In reaction to her proposal, I made the following
statement: </FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2> Tunisia [is] a "country in
transition" whose technological infrastructure, legal framework and human
capital <BR>are key elements which make change and reform possible.
International pressure and "constructive <BR>engagement" are but means to secure
positive change for Tunisians and subsequently for other people in the <BR>Arab
World for whom a reformed Tunisia compliant with the rules of the free world
would be an inspiration.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>(Archibald, J. "Constructive
engagement". 12 May 2005.)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Although a boycott may be an alluring
alternative, I submit that constructive engagement is a more viable alternative
at this juncture.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Best regards,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>J. Archibald<BR></FONT></DIV><?/flushboth></BODY></HTML>