Important Links
Recent broadcast appearances
BBC World Television
BBC World Service
Communications Breakdown: Losing the War of Ideas
WBAI New York 99.5fm
Equal Time for Free Thought
Islam & Global Power
Streaming at Equal Time for Free Thought
al jazeera english
David Frost's Frost over the World
10/12-13/2007
(begins at 06:30 on stream)
al jazeera english
Listening Post (streaming)
9/13-19/2007
Chronicle of Higher education
kalw San Francisco
Forum
bbc World (TV)
Interview segment
1/31/07
al jazeera english
Listening Post (streaming video) 1/19-25
nile tv int'l
Frontline
1/19/07
All Things Considered
1/9/07
Media Roundtable 1/5/07
radio adelaide
12/10/07
10/26/06
al jazeera mubasher
11/3/06
bbc world service
The World Today
10/14/06
9/24/06
Equal Time for Free Thought
9/10/06
(transcript 8/19-20/06)
(transcript and streaming audio/video)
(transcript and streaming audio)
(streaming audio 7/26/06)
(stream or download 7/30/06)
bbc world service
al jazeera
One-on-One
npr
(stream or download 11/12/04)
Recently Quoted In
Ekdin (India)
Berlingske Tidende (Sweden)
Osservatorio ilaria alpi (Italy)
Przekroj (Poland)
Wprost (Poland)
Trouw (Netherlands)
Bloomberg News
Europa (Italy)
The Stanford Daily
The Peninsula (Qatar)
Listen to recent talk
USC Public Diplomacy Center (audio & ppt)
Other recent talks
School of Oriental & African Studies
Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry
Arab Broadcast Forum
Oxford University
Westminster University
Monaco Media Forum
Int'l Council, Museum of Television & Radio
Aspen Institute
Stanford Univ.
U.S. Naval Academy
U.S. State Dept.
UC Berkeley
UC-Davis
Univ. of Michigan
Univ of the Pacific
George Washington Univ.
US-Indonesia Society
2nd Aljazeera Forum
Historic & Obscure Pintak Links
The village of Pintak Transylvania
Pintak Gompa (monastery) from "the Lost Years of Jesus"
Lawrence Pintak
is a veteran of
30 years in journalism and media consulting on four
continents who now writes and lectures on America's relationship with the
Muslim world and the role of the media in shaping global perceptions. He is director
of the Kamal Adham Center for
Journalism Training and Research at The American University in Cairo, publisher/co-editor of
Arab Media & Society
and publisher of
Mogtamana.org, a portal for Egyptian
civil society. His columns
appear in The Daily Star (Beirut and Cairo), Gulf News, Tempo (Indonesia),
The Jakarta Post, Arab News, the Turkish Daily News and other newspapers in the Middle East and Muslim world, along with
Columbia Journalism Review, Newsweek.WashingtonPost.com, CommonDreams.org and a variety of U.S.
and European outlets (links below).
Pintak covered the Lebanon conflict, the Iran-Iraq War and the birth of modern radical Islamist terrorism as CBS News Middle East correspondent in the 1980s. The Washington Post called his book on the U.S. intervention in Beirut "one of the most perceptive accounts of the nightmare in Lebanon." Pintak was based in Indonesia in the 1990s, where he reported on the overthrow of Indonesian President Suharto for The San Francisco Chronicle and ABC News. He won two Overseas Press Club awards for his Middle East coverage, was twice nominated for Emmys and has contributed to many of the world's leading news organizations. Pintak has also written extensively on Buddhism and Eastern religion (links below).
Now in bookstores
Reflections in a Bloodshot Lens:
America, Islam & the War of Ideas
Reviews:
"Persuasive..." Foreign Affairs
"...an example of the best of contemporary journalism...
an intriguing mix of journalism and scholarship."
Middle East Journal
"...a stimulating analysis ...
very useful to media students and general public affairs readers."
Arab Studies Quarterly
"Its scope is so sweeping, from attitudes about the media to whether suicide bombing is more about tactics than religion, that it's sure to challenge at least a few of your preconceptions."
The Capital Times (Madison, WI)
"Almost Tocquevillian in its sweep and penetrating insight into Arab and Muslim reality, this book combines the keen eye of an experienced journalist with the sharp intellect of a wise scholar who is not afraid to demolish entrenched mythologies on both sides."
Hisham Melhem, Washington correspondent, An-Nahar newspaper (Beirut) and host, Al-Arabiya TV's Across the Ocean
"Karen Hughes, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, should be the first person to read this book, distributing copies to her staff so they can also grasp the powerful message of this compelling and long-needed work. Had this book been available and studied before our invasion of Iraq, perhaps no one in or out of the Administration would have believed it would be a short exercise."
Charles A. Krohn, former Deputy Chief of Public Affairs, U.S. Army
"... [A] provocative and sophisticated appraisal of the flawed lenses through which Americans view the Muslim world. Pintak cuts through the naiveté that infects the conventional wisdom about the relationship between the West and Islam. This fine book should stimulate some much-needed thinking about the dangers the U.S. public and policy makers face because of their simplistic worldview."
Philip Seib, Lucius W. Nieman Professor of Journalism, Marquette University; author of Beyond the Front Lines: How the News Media Cover a World Shaped by War
"An acute, informed and timely insight into colliding worlds of perception which are set to dominate the global agenda for years to come."
Jim Muir, Middle East correspondent for BBC and others.
Faculty: Click here for suggested course syllabus for use with the book
■
Also available:
Seeds of Hate:
How America’s Flawed Middle East Policy Ignited the Jihad
Reviews
“A tour d’force.” Anthony Lewis, The New York Times
“One of the most perceptive accounts of the nightmare in Lebanon.” The Washington Post
"Reminiscent of early Hemingway." John Cooley, Middle East Journal
Academia
Prior to his current post, Pintak, who holds an advanced degree in Islamic studies, served as the Howard R. Marsh Visiting Professor of Journalism at the University of Michigan, teaching in the Communications Studies, Middle East and Southeast Asian programs, and at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Courses included:
Terrorism, Islam & the Media
Media Globalization & Foreign Policy
Engaged Journalism: Conscience, Compassion and Conflict
Journalism
Pintak's work has been published in scores of mainstream and academic publications, from The New York Times and The Times of London to the American Journalism Review and Middle East Journal. He has served as both a newspaper editor and as editorial director of a major Internet news site, and has provided strategic communications consulting to governments and corporations around the world. He also writes on Buddhism, spirituality and alternative medicine for publications such as Shambhala Sun and Buddhadharma.
His current areas of focus include the communications gap between the U.S. and the world's Muslims, political Islam, public diplomacy, and the responsibilities of international reporters in the face of conflict and social injustice.
He has also written and hosted a variety of video projects shot on location in the former Soviet Union, Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, including a documentary on the Vatican and informational programs for international relief groups, human rights organizations, trade associations, governments and multi-national corporations.
Latest op-eds
"Misreading the Arab Media," The New York Times (May 25, 2008)/Int'l Herald Tribune (May 26, 2008)
"The Princess and the Facebook Girl," Arab Media & Society and Newsweek.WashingtonPost.com (May 2008)
Anticipating Iraq
"The New Colonialism: Iraq, Islam & The American Regency," Progressive Populist.
Published April 15, 2003, this piece anticipates the tragedy currently unfolding in Iraq.
Lebanon Conflict 2006
"Future History: A Glimpse of What U.S. Lebanon Policy Could Spawn," Commondreams.org. (Aug. 3, 2006)
"Lebanon: Black, White & Dead All Over," Arab News/Daily Star (July 23, 2006)
Middle East Politics/International Policy
"Satellite TV and Arab Democracy," Journalism Practice (Vol. 2, No. 1, Feb. 2008)
"Mideast Heading for a New Cold War?," Arab News (Jan. 20, 2007)
"America's Media Bubble," Sunday Boston Globe/International Herald Tribune (Nov. 19/20, 2006)
"The Middle East: It's Just Too Darned Complicated," The Daily Star Egypt, Arab News, Turkish Daily News (Oct. 2, 2006)
"U.S. Middle East Policy: Between Iraq and the Hard Guys," The Daily Star Egypt & Beirut (Feb 23, 2006)
"Why all the Fuss Now?" al-Ahram Weekly (Feb. 16-22, 2006)
"Toward a Self-Interested U.S. Policy on Palestine," Commondreams.org (Nov. 9, 2004)
"The Communications Gap Between America and the World's Muslims," keynote address, International Conference on Muslims and Islam in the 21st Century, Malaysia (Aug. 2004)
"The Release Valve of Muslim Democracy: Southeast Asia’s Emerging Model," Global Dialogue Journal, Vol. 5, No. 3-4 (Summer/Autumn 2004)
"Dangerous Delusions: Advertising Nonsense about Advertising America," PublicDiplomacy.org (Aug. 29, 2004)/The Daily Star, Beirut
"Severed Head in the Freezer, Favorability Ratings in the Toilet," Commondreams.org (July 28, 2004)
"Osama's Wet Dream: Losing Hearts & Minds in Iraq and Beyond," Commondreams.org (April 9, 2004)
"Taking on the Shi'ites: How America is Creating a Powerful New Enemy," Commondreams.org (April 5, 2004)
"A Template for Muslim Democracy in SE Asia?" The Daily Star, Beirut (March 31, 2004)
"Political Islam’s Democratic Face," Commondreams.org (March 23, 2004)
"The Terrorists Cast Their Votes," Detroit Free Press (March 17, 2004)
"Progressive Muslims," Middle East Journal, Vol. 58, No. 1 (Winter 2004)
"Remember Beirut: History shows perils of revamping Middle East,"
Detroit Free Press (Oct. 23, 2003)
"Arabs & Democracy: Bush May Not Like It At Home," Commondreams.org/Daily Star Beirut (Oct. 20, 2003)
"Beyond Insensitivity: Bush Sends Mixed Signals to Indonesian Muslims," Commondreams.org/Tempo Indonesia (Oct. 17, 2003)
"It's the Policy, Stupid: Muslim Antipathy Driven Home by Latest White House Comments," Commondreams.org (Oct. 8, 2003)
"The New Colonialism: Iraq, Islam & The American Regency," Progressive Populist (April 15, 2003)
"Bush, Bali & the Beirut Connection," CommonDreams.org (October 2002)
"The Terror War in Indonesia," Earth Times Magazine (March 2002)
"The Middle East's Festering Wound," CommonDreams.org (October 2001)
"Islamic Dominoes," TomPaine.com (Sept. 26, 2001)
"The Ambassador of Terror," The New York Times (1989)
Media
"Ignoring Al-Jazeera," Newsweek.WashingtonPost.com (Mar. 27, 2008)
"Beyond Media ‘Dialogues’: Time to put away the champagne flutes," Arab Media & Society, October 2007
"Darfur: Covering the 'forgotten' story," Arab Media & Society, May 2007
"Egypt Shuts Down Insurgent TV, but Other U.S. Allies Keep it Live," Columbia Journalism Review Online (CJRDaily.org) (Feb. 28, 2007)
"Reporting a Revolution: the changing Arab media landscape," Arab Media & Society, Feb. 2007
"Insurgent TV: Coming to a Satellite Near You?" CJRDaily.org/Arab News/Gulf News (Jan. 4-8, 2007)
"Cairo Ignores U.S. Request to Pull Plug on Jihadi TV in Iraq," CJRDaily.org/Daily Star Beirut/Gulf News (Jan. 4-8, 2007)
"Will al-Jazeera English Find Its Groove?" CJRDaily.org (Nov. 30, 2006)
"Al-Jazeera English: Day One Report Card," Der Speigel (Nov. 16, 2006)
"Al-Jazeera Chief: 'We are not politically-correct.'" Turkish Daily News/Commondreams.org (Nov. 15, 2006)
"Rewriting the Rules of Journalism," Aljazeera.net (Nov. 1, 2006)
"Look Who's Fair and Balanced," CJRDaily.org (Aug. 22, 2006)
"Open Season on Journalists in the Middle East," CJRDaily.org (Aug. 1, 2006)
"The Fog of Cable," CJRDaily.org. A critique of U.S. TV's Lebanon war coverage (July 21, 2006)
"Al-Jazeera International, Not Quite Ready for Takeoff," CJRDaily.org (April 27, 2006)
"Arab News Media: In the Vortex of Change," Journal of Transnational Broadcasting Studies (Jan.-June 2006)
"Western, Arab Journalists Miles Apart in Cartoon Rift," CJRDaily.org (Feb. 3, 2006)
"Shadow Plays," Columbia Journalism Review magazine. Review essay on Indonesia (Jan./Feb. 2005)
"A New Arab Media Rises from the Rubble," CJRDaily.org (Dec. 14, 2005)
"White House Media Manipulation Nothing New in Middle East," Media Asia (Singapore, Winter 2003)
Buddhism/Eastern Religion
"The Terror Koan: American Buddhists Contemplate Violence," Beliefnet.com (October 2001)
Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan: An Interview with the late Sufi master, Beliefnet.com (June 2004)
"Gene Smith: Tibetan Text Archivist," Buddhadharma magazine (Winter 2002)
"Insight Meditation Society at 25," Shambhala Sun magazine (Nov. 2001)
"Something Has to Change': Blacks in American Buddhism," Shambhala Sun (Sept.. 2001)
"Balancing Business with Buddha," Beliefnet.com (June 2001)
"The Dharma Scribe: Nick Ribush," Beliefnet.com (Feb. 2001)
"A Strong Voice Coming Up," Tibet's renowned female teacher Khandro Rinpoche, Beliefnet.com (October 2000)
"Jon Kabat Zinn: The Prescription is Meditation," Shambhala Sun (Sept.. 1999)
"Mind at Peace, Body in Balance: Tulku Thondop Rinpoche," Shambhala Sun (Sept.. 1999)
Body, Mind & Soul columns (select)
"'Reverential ecologist' Satish Kumar"
"American Buddhists Celebrate Escape of Tibetan Religious Leader"
"A Share of the Soil: Organic farmers balance body and soul"
Indonesia Coverage
"Suharto Resigns," The San Francisco Chronicle (May 21, 1998)
"Indonesia on the Brink: Riots Grip Capital," The Washington Times (May 1998)
"Habibie Stumbles Through: First Week Tough for Indonesian Leader," The San Francisco Chronicle (May 1998)
"Communications Gap Feeds a Revolution," The San Francisco Chronicle (March 1998)
"Appearances and Reality: The American Terror War in Indonesia," Earth Times Magazine (March 2002)
"Dwifungsi: The Dual Function of Indonesia's Military," Earth Times Magazine (March 2002)
For other writing samples, click one of the subject areas on the navigation bar.
- Electronic mail
- General Information: lp@pintak.com