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Dear Rushda. As you say, 'It just makes me apprehensive of the possible
relation the state can possibly have with the media.' This difficult to
disagree with. After all, the standard Western styled 'libertarian' theory of the democratic press would agree with you. The press has historically been mistrustful of government, in principle, and vice versa. In the case of projects like CIMA funded through the bipartisan NED, the idea is, I believe, to support work once or twice removed from the state, including media projects. How effectively, this might insulate such projects from a press/media perspective embodying American tendencies in foreign policy more generally, or embodying an increasingly commercialized media culture, does remain a complicated question in which many media scholars as well as policymakers are no doubt concerned. For my own part, I hope we can find a way around Foucault¹s suggestion that the press and state are eternally enjoined in illegitimate conjugation. An analysis is needed that recognizes
tendencies for state and commerce to capture the press and then suggests
models by which such influences can be minimized. Best, Tom.