The Arab Journalists Essay

The journalism profession was well taken up in the 19th century. This is notably during the cultural and intellectual renaissance in Egypt in which was encouraged by the liberal khedive Ismail. In other places such as Syria and Iraq, the written press appeared later (Cocking, 59). The Arab journalists emerged as a result of the influence from the Syrian and Lebanese journalists trying to resuscitate Arab literature in the name of past Arab glory. This led to the launch of newspapers which in turn became the basic models for the Arab press. This would see that the political class and the rest of the population had some common meeting ground where information could be streamed. In other words, the journalist profession emerged mainly for political reasons.

Most of the Arab journalists emerged from the small but literate segments of society (Ayalon, 230). It was almost a requirement that those involved in the profession be at least exposed t some level of knowledge to engage in the pursuit without utilizing the traditional mannerisms. Most of these journalists were male with only a handful of women in the profession (Ayalon, 230). Apart from all these, journalists were required to have some qualifications. According to Ayalon (227), potential journalists were supposed to be wise and perspicacious; they were supposed to be familiar with the ills of society and possible solutions, they were symbols and leaders for the people in personal conduct principles and ethics. Lastly, they were expected to be articulate writers and masters of style in order to capture the reader's attention.