Before joining the faculty at WSU, Lawrence Pintak directed the Kamal Adham Center for Journalism Training and Research at The American University in Cairo, where he ran the only graduate journalism degree program in the Arab world and a variety of training opportunities for professional journalists. He created the online publication Arab Media & Society (arabmediasociety.org), several internet resource sites for Arab society and media, and the first "virtual newsroom" in Second Life.

Dr. Pintak is a veteran of more than 30 years in journalism on four continents. His scholarly research specializes in the role of media in shaping policy and perceptions of policy; the intersection of media, religion and conflict; and the impact of technology, culture and globalization on journalism.

He has contributed to many leading news organizations. As a CBS News Middle East correspondent he covered the Iran-Iraq War, Israel's war in Lebanon, the rise of Hezbollah and the birth of suicide bombing-including the 1983 destruction of the Beirut U.S. Marine barracks. He has received two Overseas Press Club awards and two Emmy nominations.

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, and other U.S. and European outlets. His articles are at pintak.com.

Dean Pintak has served as editor of an alternative weekly newspaper, editorial director of a major internet news site, and strategic communications consultant to a variety of governments, NGOs, industry groups and news organizations. He earned his doctorate in Islamic studies at the University of Wales, Lampeter.

His forthcoming book, The New Arab Journalist, releases this year. Previous books include Reflections in a Bloodshot Lens: America, Islam & the War of Ideas (2006), Seeds of Hate: How America's Flawed Middle East Policy Ignited the Jihad (2003) and Beirut Outtakes: A TV Correspondent's Portrait of America's Encounter with Terror (1988).

To learn how you can help support the series, please contact Carol Kowalski, director of development, The Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, at ckowalski@wsu.edu or 206-448-1332.