Media Development in an Age of Chaos
Reporting from the Eye of the Storm
Being a journalist in the Middle East today is not an easy feat.
It's challenging, perilous, and, too often, deadly. Across the region, escalating conflict has created an increasingly hostile environment for independent media. I enjoyed listening to this episode of BBC Radio 4’s The Media Show on the Iran-Israel conflict and the wider crackdown on press freedom around the world.
In Iran, repeated internet shutdowns and sweeping crackdowns on journalists have plunged the country into what experts describe as an “information blackout zone,” cutting vital ties to the outside world and allowing state narratives to dominate.
The consequences ripple outward. From Jordan to Egypt, governments are tightening their grip on information, fearing that unfiltered reporting could inflame unrest or reveal uncomfortable truths.
Nowhere is the cost of journalism more devastating than in Gaza. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 2024 was the deadliest year on record, with 124 journalists killed, nearly 70% by Israeli forces. The systematic targeting of media workers has decimated Gaza’s press infrastructure, turning newsrooms into what researchers grimly call “news graveyards.”
In their report Crisis in Journalism: The Impact of the US Government Funding Cuts on Global Media, Internews highlights how quickly entire news ecosystems can collapse without donor support—some outlets lost 80% of their staff almost overnight. Even more worrying is that the resulting funding gap risks being filled by authoritarian regimes eager to spread propaganda.
For those committed to media development, this moment has reshaped their mission. Independent media is no longer just building newsrooms; they’re constructing information lifelines in the midst of conflict.
So this month, despite the chaos and the mounting constraints, we press forward. Not because it’s easy, but because it’s necessary. In a region ablaze, we remain steadfast in amplifying voices, preserving truth, and telling the stories that must be told.
Warm wishes,
Rana F. Sweis
Founder, Wishbox Media Company
💡 What we've been up to
🎥 Fosfori Episode Now Live! This episode (in Arabic) explores the importance of local elections, how politics shapes daily life, and more. Our latest Fosfori episode is now on YouTube! We also hosted a live session on Instagram, where Basant Zeidan led a special conversation with the Independent Election Commission about youth engagement and participation in civic life.
📺 Watch it here: Fosfori Episode – YouTube
📊 Infographic Spotlight: Women's Role in the Economy
We released a new infographic highlighting the economic benefits of Jordanian women's participation in the workforce. Produced by Wishbox Media in collaboration with the Qarib program (implemented by CFI and funded by AFD), the data highlights the benefits of stronger inclusion of women in economic development.
☕️ Change of Place: The Wishbox Media team stepped out for a change of pace, working from Hanin Café. We had engaging conversations with cartoonist Omar Al-Abdallat about the challenges facing small organizations and the impact of reduced funding on civil society. We also explored ideas for future training collaborations. Basant Zeidan joined us to finalize the media rollout for the new Fosfori episode.
🛠 Coming Soon: Monthly Media Training Workshops: Starting next month, Wishbox Media will launch monthly training workshops focused on storytelling and digital media. These sessions will explore how to effectively use technology, storytelling, and social media to promote creative work and engage broader audiences.
📲 We recently sat down with Aws Qutaishat, who is the Project Partnership Director at Jordan’s Independent Election Commission, for a conversation on empowering youth participation in political life. The interview, conducted by our colleague Basant Zeidan, is part of the promotional campaign for an upcoming episode of Fosfori. You can listen to the interview (Arabic) here.
🗄️ From the archive
🌍 Throwback: Designing Youth Climate Voices: In our Youth for Climate Change project, we turned complex data into an accessible, youth-driven report layout. With bold visuals and straightforward storytelling, the design amplified the voices of young activists across the MENA region, making climate research not just readable but powerful.
You can see the project here →
📺 Our media consumption
🤖 OpenAI COO Pushes Back on “AI Kills Jobs” Claims: During a June podcast taping, OpenAI’s COO, Brad Lightcap, pushed back on Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s warning that AI could eliminate 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs in five years. Lightcap noted that OpenAI hasn’t seen mass job displacement, and CEO Sam Altman echoed that history shows innovation often creates more jobs than it destroys. Do you agree?
📺 AI and Arabic: MENA’s New Media Frontier: Governments in Saudi Arabia and the UAE are rapidly investing in Arabic-language AI models to create sovereign media tools, from voice clones to automated news readers. Critics caution that these tools, while innovative, risk deepening state control over narratives by sidelining human editorial judgment. You can read more about this on this Substack post.
📕 Looking for a summer reading? I just received a hardback copy of When the Going Was Good: An Editor's Adventures During the Last Golden Age of Magazines by Graydon Carter. His memoir revives the glamorous heyday of print magazines when they were at the vanguard of American culture.
🕊️ We also bid farewell to journalist Bill Moyers — a pioneering voice in TV journalism.
📩 Do you want to learn more about our Content Innovation Fund or want to join our trainings online? Get in touch, and let’s bring your ideas to life!