Since protesters took to the streets in Tunisia in December, dozens of other countries have experienced political unrest. Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Iraq and Iran are just a few of the countries where people are demanding democratic reforms. Young people are playing a key role in the protest using social media like Facebook and Twitter to organize.

Meanwhile some traditional media outlets in the Arab world are struggling with government censorship.

As the unrest continues to spread, theAQ asks two former STU students, Ayat Mohammad and Soror Irani, about their role in the Arab and Persian media.

This is one of their stories.

Ayat Mohammad

Ayat Mohammad can’t talk about politics with her friends at work. She and her colleagues are forced to focus on the entertainment shows like American Idol and Arab’s Got Talent that are now shown on what used to be a major news channel for Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates.

Originally from Jordan, Mohammad, 24, graduated from St. Thomas University last year with a double major in journalism and human rights.

She now works for the Abu Dhabi Media Company, a government-owned news channel located in the centre of the city.

But the channel no longer serves its original purpose.

Recently, the government cancelled all national and international news broadcasts from ADMC. The channel can now only produce local Abu Dhabi news and has turned into what Mohammad calls a business organization that’s only interested in making money.

Mohammad thinks the change has a lot to do with recent uprisings in Tunisia in Egypt. She said governments in Syria and Jordan are already having to take “positive steps” because of this. They have been giving money to the poor and asking people want they want. She says while Middle Eastern governments don’t want their own people turning against them, but they also don’t want the people to force them to do anything.

“People are talking…we are saying what we have in mind and that scares most people in the Middle East,” she said, referring to the recent democratic protests that have rocked the Arab world. “We [the government] don’t like people to talk or give their own opinions…We prefer…that what the government says should be implemented.”

The UAE is a federation of seven cities or “emirates.” Prince Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed has been president ever since the UAE came to be 40 years ago. Although the 1971 Constitution promotes freedom of speech, the media is highly censored by the government.

Mohammad has played it safe though. She’s the chief editor for all the sports reporting for the ADMC, writing scripts and working closely with the producing staff. She says the atmosphere in the sports section is more relaxed because she doesn’t have to worry as much about the government breathing down her neck for a story it doesn’t like.

But Mohammad says people all around the Middle East are getting sick of bowing to the government. That’s why people in Abu Dhabi are “so happy” that the protesters in the Egypt, Bahrain and Libya haven’t given up.

“Many people were killed…many women were raped, like really terrible things happened to them so we were afraid that they were going to start [to] surrender to the government. But they didn’t,” she said.

“So when Mubarak said, ‘Okay, I’m leaving,’ oh my god, you had to see the Middle East.

“People were singing in the streets.”

But as a young journalist, Mohammad has thought of moving on and quitting her job with the ADMC and working at an organization where freedom of speech is respected. But she says those organizations aren’t necessarily any better. While she would be allowed to report on political issues, other news channels still have their own agendas.

Mohammad has even thought of returning to Canada. Her visa is still valid and she could report on whatever she wanted. That’s why she came to Fredericton in the first place.

“I’ve always wanted to tell the stories of others…so I was like, oh my god, what’s the best place? So I told my dad studying abroad, studying in a country where freedom of speech is respected…where you can go to court…for losing that freedom.

“That’s why I came to Canada.”

But she left for a purpose too. Mohammad is determined to make a difference close to home no matter how hard it may be.

“I used to tell my professors…that I was really, really scared of going back home and practicing…our [Middle Eastern] journalism,” she said. “I thought that I would be able to change what people think here, but oh my god this is so hard.

“I was trying to do things here for human rights and it’s…really, really hard to even make yourself visible so I’m considering going back,” she said. “But then I was like, oh my god, I really want to make a difference in my own country. Why would I want to go back to Canada when I really want to make that difference here?

Mohammad is prepared to stick it out in Abu Dhabi. She feels she still has time to make a difference.

The new contract for her job at the ADMC says it will be years before international and national news is streamed again on this channel. But even then, Mohammad says the UAE’s press regulations will never change. Instead, she says she has to be proud of what her people have accomplished.

“We are so proud of ourselves…We have been silenced for years and years and years, we broke that wall and we were able to talk about what we want and voice our concerns.

“So I think it’s beautiful what happened in Egypt.”

(Part 2: Soror Irani will be available here on March 1.)