Bahrain: The Current Political and Communication Challenges, A View From the Inside
Nada Alwadi
Bahraini Journalist
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
4:30 p.m.
Science Center Room 101
Swarthmore College (maps and directions)
Nada Alwadi was a reporter for Alwasat, the most popular newspaper in Bahrain, a monarchy on a small island in the Persian Gulf. Alwadi covered the pro-democracy protests this spring for several media outlets including USA Today Newspaper.
US backed Saudi Arabia sent troops to help shore up the Bahraini monarchy and suppress the popular uprising. Ms. Alwadi was detained in April while reporting on the pro-democracy movement and was forced to sign a statement saying that she would not write on or engage in any political activities, and was fired from her job.
In her presentation, Alwadi will discuss the Bahraini experience of strategic nonviolence and the importance of Bahrain in building a new Middle East. She will address the media blackout in Bahrain, and the current political and communication challenges facing the country as well as the region. She will relate the untold story of a struggle which was forgotten and abandoned by the world and the international media.
Ms. Alwadi is co-founder of the Bahrain Press Association which seeks to defend Bahraini journalists from government repression.
Sponsors: The President’s Office, Peace and Conflict Studies, the Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility, History, Sociology and Anthropology, Political Science, Islamic Studies, the Intercultural Center, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and the Arabic Section of Modern Languages and Literatures