Local and foreign observers across the MENA region are inconsensus that the region lacks a key ingredient to anythriving democracy: a pool of professional journalists. Thishas created a drought of oversight and accountability. While the problem is known, there is hardly any evidenceit is being addressed. Even the institutions that one wouldturn to first, the region’s universities, have failed intheir task. The lack of journalistic standards in the regionhas allowed those universities and colleges that do offer adegree in journalism—which are few and far in between—tograduate students with little practical know how and writingskills based on the standards used in the developed world. Whether the education was Arabic, English or French, theacademic training afforded to journalism students does notcome close to being equal to the education and trainingavailable in more developed countries, which means that mostof these colleges graduate wannabe journalists. Governments of the region are keen to maintain theirofficial
