Yasser Thabet
Encyclopedia
Yasser Talaat Hafez Thabet is an acclaimed Egypt
ian journalist
and liberal writer
.
, Germany
, Thabet gained a BA in Journalism
from the Mass Communication Faculty at Cairo University
, Egypt
in May 1985 and a Masters degree in Journalism from the Centre for Journalism Studies, University of Wales
, Cardiff
in 1998. In September 2000, he gained his PhD degree in Journalism from Boston University, US.
While studying at Cairo University, he was selected to head the foreign affairs department at the University newspaper, Sawt Al-Gamea, Arabic for "Voice of the University".
He started his professional career at Al-Ahram
when he was a student and continued his career as a Foreign Affairs Editor until he resigned in 2006.
in August 2002 to be Senior Producer of Al-Jazeera Channel.
In September 2006 he returned to Egypt to be the program editor of El-Beit Beitak, Egyptian Arabic for Feel at Home, which was one of the most important talk shows on Egyptian television. In March 2007, he travelled to US where he started his new post as the chief editor of Al-Hurra Channel. However, political and media pressures by the neo-conservatives, specially due to his previous work with Al-Jazeera, forced him to submit his resignation. Meanwhile, some US writers and researchers criticized such pressures, while praising Thabet's highly revered legacy and outstanding journalistic achievements http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/jun/16/alhurramarti.
Thabet became Program Editor of Al-Arabiya Channel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, starting November 2007, before joining Sky News Arabia Channel http://www.skynewsarabia.com/ in Abu Dhabi, UAE, as Head of Output http://www.skynewsarabia.com/2011/08/sky-news-arabia-appoints-senior-editorial-team/?lang=en, starting June 2011.
Thabet gave presentations on media issues in UK, Austria, Spain, Turkey, Greece, Canada and US. He has been on the faculty panel of the Salzburg Seminars on two occasions. In 11 June 2009, Yasser Thabet was a speaker at a conference titled Civilian Capacity Building and Democratic Consciousness Raising in Security and Human Rights which was organized in Ankara, Turkey by The Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)http://www.tesev.org.tr/default.asp?PG=DMK03EN04.
He was a keynote speaker at The International Symposium on Cultural Diplomacy 2010: "Culture, Globalization and International Relations over the next Two Decades”, which was hosted by the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy in Berlin from 24 May until 30 May, 2010 http://www.culturaldiplomacy.org/academy/index.php?en_symposium2010_speakers.
In 27 November 2008, The Deutsche Welle International Weblog Awards—The BOBs –announced that "Before the Deluge" won the People's Choice prize as the Best Weblog Arabic http://www.thebobs.com/index.php?l=en&s=1154893245576112ILZBADHZ-1194171957847600ZNWAOZCV.
The jury said that "Yasser's entries about historical figures and events tends to be among the Arab blogsphere's most well-researched posts. An established journalist and talented, creative storyteller, he gives his readers a new view on old stories".
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and liberal writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
.
Biography
Born on May 7, 1964 in CologneCologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Thabet gained a BA in Journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
from the Mass Communication Faculty at Cairo University
Cairo University
Cairo University is a public university located in Giza, Egypt.The university was founded on December 21, 1908, as the result of an effort to establish a national center for educational thought...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
in May 1985 and a Masters degree in Journalism from the Centre for Journalism Studies, University of Wales
University of Wales
The University of Wales was a confederal university founded in 1893. It had accredited institutions throughout Wales, and formerly accredited courses in Britain and abroad, with over 100,000 students, but in October 2011, after a number of scandals, it withdrew all accreditation, and it was...
, Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
in 1998. In September 2000, he gained his PhD degree in Journalism from Boston University, US.
While studying at Cairo University, he was selected to head the foreign affairs department at the University newspaper, Sawt Al-Gamea, Arabic for "Voice of the University".
He started his professional career at Al-Ahram
Al-Ahram
Al-Ahram , founded in 1875, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second oldest after al-Waqa'i`al-Masriya . It is majority owned by the Egyptian government....
when he was a student and continued his career as a Foreign Affairs Editor until he resigned in 2006.
Career
Yasser Thabet was among the main journalists who started a unique experience in Egyptian journalism, called Independent Journalism. The cornerstone of this experience was the widespread newspaper [Al-Dostour]http://dostor.org/ar/. In 1991, he was among the founders of the first daily business newspaper in Egypt, titled Al-Alam Al-Youm, Arabic for "World Today". In 2001, he became the managing editor of Sawt Al-Ummah private-owned newspaper, before leaving for QatarQatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
in August 2002 to be Senior Producer of Al-Jazeera Channel.
In September 2006 he returned to Egypt to be the program editor of El-Beit Beitak, Egyptian Arabic for Feel at Home, which was one of the most important talk shows on Egyptian television. In March 2007, he travelled to US where he started his new post as the chief editor of Al-Hurra Channel. However, political and media pressures by the neo-conservatives, specially due to his previous work with Al-Jazeera, forced him to submit his resignation. Meanwhile, some US writers and researchers criticized such pressures, while praising Thabet's highly revered legacy and outstanding journalistic achievements http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/jun/16/alhurramarti.
Thabet became Program Editor of Al-Arabiya Channel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, starting November 2007, before joining Sky News Arabia Channel http://www.skynewsarabia.com/ in Abu Dhabi, UAE, as Head of Output http://www.skynewsarabia.com/2011/08/sky-news-arabia-appoints-senior-editorial-team/?lang=en, starting June 2011.
Thabet gave presentations on media issues in UK, Austria, Spain, Turkey, Greece, Canada and US. He has been on the faculty panel of the Salzburg Seminars on two occasions. In 11 June 2009, Yasser Thabet was a speaker at a conference titled Civilian Capacity Building and Democratic Consciousness Raising in Security and Human Rights which was organized in Ankara, Turkey by The Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)http://www.tesev.org.tr/default.asp?PG=DMK03EN04.
He was a keynote speaker at The International Symposium on Cultural Diplomacy 2010: "Culture, Globalization and International Relations over the next Two Decades”, which was hosted by the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy in Berlin from 24 May until 30 May, 2010 http://www.culturaldiplomacy.org/academy/index.php?en_symposium2010_speakers.
Blogging
Thabet writes regularly in his well-known blog Qabl Al-Tofanhttp://yasser-best.blogspot.com/, Arabic for Before The Deluge about history, literature and even sports in a distinguished and articulated style.In 27 November 2008, The Deutsche Welle International Weblog Awards—The BOBs –announced that "Before the Deluge" won the People's Choice prize as the Best Weblog Arabic http://www.thebobs.com/index.php?l=en&s=1154893245576112ILZBADHZ-1194171957847600ZNWAOZCV.
The jury said that "Yasser's entries about historical figures and events tends to be among the Arab blogsphere's most well-researched posts. An established journalist and talented, creative storyteller, he gives his readers a new view on old stories".
Books
Thabet is the author of numerous publications on history, media and literature in the Middle East. His list of books includes the following:- Lahazat Twitter (Twitter Moments) - (2011) Cairo: Dar Al-Ein http://www.middle-east-online.com/?id=116328.
- Futuwat wa Effendiya (Bullies and Effendis) - (2010) Cairo: Dar Sefsafa http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/2384.aspx.
- Horoub Korat Al-Qadam (Soccer Wars) - (2010) Cairo: Dar Al-Ein http://www.boswtol.com/culture/culture-followup/10/october/21/21533.
- Jra'im bil-Hibr Al-Siri (Crimes in Invisible Ink) - (2010) Cairo: Markaz Al-Hadhara Al-Arabiya http://www.almesryoon.com/news.aspx?id=35659.
- Kitab Al-Raghba (Book of Desire) - (2010) Beirut: Arab Scientific Publishers, Inc http://almustaqbal.net/stories.aspx?StoryID=408284.
- Film Masri Taweel (A Long Egyptian Film) - (2010) Cairo: Markaz Al-Hadhara Al-Arabiya http://www.alwafd.org/details1.aspx?nid=53198.
- Yawmeyat Saher Motaqa'ed (Diraies of a Retired Magician) - (2009) Cairo: Dar Al-Ein http://www.elainpublishing.com/index.php?do=view_issue&i_id=210.
- Jra'im Al-A'atefah fi Misr Al-Nazefah (Crimes of Passion in Bleeding Egypt)- (2009) Beirut: Arab Scientific Publishers, Inc.
- Qabl Al-Tofan: Al-Tarikh Al-Dha'ia lil-Al-Mahrousa fi Modawana Misryia (Before the Deluge: The Missing History of Egypt in an Egyptian Blog)- (2008) Cairo: Mizan Book.http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3537135._
- Jomhouriyat Al-Fawdha: Qisat Inhisar Al-Watan wa Inkisar Al-Mowatin (The Republic of Chaos: A Story of the Decline of the Nation and the Refraction of the Citizen)- (2008) Cairo: Mizan Book.http://ara.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idARAEGO32106720080523
- Thakerat Al-Qarn Al-Eshrin (Memory of the 20th Century)- (2002) Cairo: Al-Dar Al-Arabiya Lil-Kitab.http://www.asharqalawsat.com/details.asp?section=19&article=111166&issueno=8618
- Mawsoua't Ka'as Al-Alam (World Cup Encyclopedia)- (1994) Cairo: Madbouly Al-Saghir.