I’ve informed all of my work colleagues that I’m leaving my job at the end of this month. This was sad. It’s been an amazing four years at Travelfusion during which I’ve grown personally and professionally. Most importantly, I’ve made so many good friends who I’ll stay in contact with for years to come. I’m so proud of our achievements and with all the work underway I’m sure the successes will keep on coming.
Some may know that I moved to London in 2005 to pursue a Masters degree in Politics and Society of the Middle East. My dissertation explored social and political aspects of journalism and media in transitional democracies. Specifically I compared post-2003 Iraq to other instances of “media space management” by intervening powers within conflict zones, for example when Yugoslavia was breaking up in the 1990s. I tried to explain the rapid diversification of Iraqi media into highly polarized, unmistakably partisan media outlets, as one of many predictable outcomes of the American policy of de-Baathification. I didn’t really touch on the impact this policy had on the insurgency — nice job, Bremer, that one reaaaaally worked out — but instead focused on the problems you see when the development of a nation’s public sphere is driven by interventionist policy.
Anyway, since SOAS I’ve been working at an internet software company doing things like product development, communications, project management, writing and editing content — all sorts of things not related to the Middle East at all. I’ve always liked technology and making things, and I really enjoy the role I play at my company, but it’s been a nagging desire of mine to continue along my academic track by working with some kind of international organization that deals with new media in emerging markets. Specifically in Arabic speaking countries, since digital media is all still relatively new to the region and growing very quickly. To land a job like this, I’ll need to learn more Arabic; and to learn a new language properly, you really need to live somewhere that speaks it. So that’s what I’m going to do.
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