Important Links
Recent broadcast appearances
Al Jazeera English
Inside Story (Internet freedoms)
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
(begins at 06:30 on stream)
al jazeera english
Listening Post (streaming)
Chronicle of Higher education
kalw San Francisco
Forum
bbc World (TV)
Interview segment
al jazeera english
Listening Post (streaming video)
nile tv int'l
Frontline
All Things Considered
Media Roundtable
radio adelaide
al jazeera mubasher
bbc world service
The World Today
Equal Time for Free Thought
(transcript)
(transcript and streaming audio/video)
(transcript and streaming audio)
(streaming audio)
(stream or download)
bbc world service
al jazeera
One-on-One
npr
(stream or download)
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
NYU Abu Dhabi
NewsXchange
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
was recently
appointed
Founding Dean of the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington
State University.
He is a veteran of more than 30 years in journalism and the media business on four continents who now writes and lectures on America's relationship with the Muslim world, the role of the media in shaping global perceptions and government policy, the future of journalism in a digital/globalized world, and the responsibilities of reporters covering conflict and social injustice.
Pintak has spent the past four years as director of the Kamal Adham Center for Journalism Training and Research at The American University in Cairo where he led the only graduate journalism program in the Arab world, headed a variety of professional journalism training programs, and created Arab Media & Society, Mogtamana.org, a portal for Egyptian civil society, Intihabat2008.org, a U.S. election resource site for Arab journalists, and the first "virtual newsroom" in Second Life. His columns and op-eds appear in The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, The Daily Star Beirut, The Daily News Cairo, Arab News, Gulf News, Tempo (Indonesia), The Jakarta Post, Al-Shurooq Egypt, the Turkish Daily News and other newspapers in the Middle East and Muslim world, along with Columbia Journalism Review online, Newsweek.WashingtonPost.com, CommonDreams.org and a variety of U.S. and European outlets.
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," and Middle East Journal said his most recent book, on post-9/11 U.S.-Muslim relations, was "an example of the best of contemporary journalism." Pintak was based in Indonesia in the 1990s, where he reported on the Asian economic collapse and 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 been a documentary producer, editor of an alternative weekly newspaper, editorial director of a major internet news site, web technology columnist for Internet.com, and has provided strategic communications consulting to governments, non-profits and corporations around the world. He began his career as a young reporter covering the White House and Capitol Hill for Associated Press Radio and later worked as a stringer in Africa for The Times of London, Newsweek, CBS Radio and numerous other news organizations. Pintak holds a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies and has also written extensively on Buddhism and Eastern religion.
Latest op-eds
"Obama starts well with Muslims but must do more," The Christian Science Monitor (Mar. 16, 2009)
"The Murrow Option for U.S. Public Diplomacy," The Daily Star Beirut (Feb. 17, 2009)
"Gaza: Of Media Wars and Borderless Journalism," Arab Media & Society (Jan. 2009)
(Portions appeared as "Gaza: Borderless Journalism in Gaza" and "Arab Media Wars" at
Columbia Journalism Review online)
"Misreading the Arab Media," The New York Times (May 25, 2008)/Int'l Herald Tribune (May 26, 2008)
Latest Broadcast Appearance
"The Future of the Internet," Inside Story, Al Jazeera English
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvYQMwPn9l8&feature=channel_page (PART ONE)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFr0KUwwUww&feature=channel_page (PART TWO)
Latest Book Chapter
"Arab Media," in Roles of the News Media: Watchdogs, Agenda-setters and Gate-keepers.
Pippa Norris, ed. World Bank Publications (forthcoming, Spring 2009)
Latest Journal Articles
"Border Guards of the “Imagined” Watan: Arab Journalists and the New Arab Consciousness," Middle East Journal (Vol. 63, No. 2, Spring 2009)
"Inside the Arab Newsroom: Journalists evaluate themselves and the competition," (with Jeremy Ginges, PhD, Journalism Studies (Vol. 10, Issue 2, 2009; T&F iFirst Oct. 2008))
"The Mission of Arab Journalism: Creating Change in a Time of Turmoil" (with Jeremy Ginges, PhD), International Journal of Press/Politics (Vol. 13, No. 3, July 2008)
"Satellite TV and Arab Democracy," Journalism Practice (Vol. 2, No. 1, Feb. 2008)
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 relentless, painstakingly detailed and masterfully executed study on how America and the Islamic world misperceive each other.”
Islamica Magazine
"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 bureau chief, Al Arabiya television
"Its scope is so sweeping ... that it's sure to challenge at least a few of your preconceptions."
The Capital Times (Madison, WI)
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 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 publications, from The New York Times and The Sydney Morning Herald to Time and Newsweek. He has reported for all five of the major U.S. networks, is a regular contributor to the program Listening Post on Al-Jazeera English and writes on Buddhism, spirituality and alternative medicine for publications such as Shambhala Sun, Buddhadharma and Beliefnet.net.
Pintak has also produced 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, magazine segments for The NewsHour on PBS, and informational programs for international relief groups, human rights organizations, trade associations, governments and multi-national corporations.
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
"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)
"Progressive Muslims," review essay, Middle East Journal (Vol. 58, No. 1, Winter 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
"The Princess and the Facebook Girl," Arab Media & Society and Newsweek.WashingtonPost.com (May 2008)
"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 (Feb. 28, 2007)
"Reporting a Revolution: the changing Arab media landscape," Arab Media & Society, Feb. 2007
"Insurgent TV: Coming to a Satellite Near You?" CJR/Arab News/Gulf News (Jan. 4-8, 2007)
"Cairo Ignores U.S. Request to Pull Plug on Jihadi TV in Iraq," CJR/Daily Star Beirut/Gulf News (Jan. 4-8, 2007)
"Will al-Jazeera English Find Its Groove?" CJR (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," CJR (Aug. 22, 2006)
"Open Season on Journalists in the Middle East," CJR (Aug. 1, 2006)
"The Fog of Cable," CJR A critique of U.S. TV's Lebanon war coverage (July 21, 2006)
"Al-Jazeera International, Not Quite Ready for Takeoff," CJR (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," CJR (Feb. 3, 2006)
"Shadow Plays," Columbia Journalism Review magazine. Review essay on Indonesia (Jan./Feb. 2005)
"A New Arab Media Rises from the Rubble," CJR (Dec. 14, 2005)
"White House Media Manipulation Nothing New in Middle East," Media Asia (Singapore, Winter 2003)
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)
"Political Islam's Democratic Face," Commondreams.org (March 23, 2004)
Internet.com Technology Columns
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"
Other Essays
"A Family Grieves," Worcester Magazine (1999)
"Is America Out to Lunch?" The New York Times (1987)
"Parent Abuse in Economy Class," The Jakarta Post (1986)
For other writing samples, click one of the subject areas on the navigation bar.
Photo above: Lawrence Pintak by Khaled Habib, Egypt Today
- Electronic mail
- General Information: lp@pintak.com