The case for good news from the Middle East. Introducing the site that brings it. www.barakabits.com

1. hopeful inspirations
aspirational
GOOD
baraka intelligent
bits
sustainable
Optimism and the other narrative
traditional collaborative
spirited
fun
clean
creative
inspirations
healthy
@rchakaki
Wednesday, April 10, 13

2. in my world fairy tails come to life
Wednesday, April 10, 13

3. I meet and work with heroes .. my stories have happy
endings
Wednesday, April 10, 13

4. I am blessed to work doctors from around the world .. heroes to 20,000+ palestinian
children in refuge camps.
Wednesday, April 10, 13

5. I work with donors who funded sports training for 9000 children from the most threatened
refugee camps in 3 yrs and took them to compete internationally.. giving them a go at WC 2022.
Wednesday, April 10, 13

6. I worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs in the region who are innovating, and building the
social enterprise ecosystem.
Wednesday, April 10, 13

7. I contributed to projects the world deemed impossible.
Wednesday, April 10, 13

8. I’m an optimist. I see the glass half full. I grew up with those who saw a world of possibilities,
a world of arab super heroes.
Wednesday, April 10, 13

9. Years ago.. I opted out of mainstream media..
why?
Wednesday, April 10, 13

10. After the tragic events of Sep 11 the US media propagated a defeating narrative about Arabs and
muslims. The messages were strong, the campaigns long lasting.. eventually the entire world bought into
it. There was little room for other opinions on the matter..
Wednesday, April 10, 13

11. Arab media bought into the international rhetoric and spent too much time defending our political stance, and adopting an
externalized view of our situation.. it left room only for entertainment and forgetting there was another narrative.
Wednesday, April 10, 13

12. How does someone working with gov,
entrepreneurs, NGOs remain informed?
Wednesday, April 10, 13

13. The new field of positive news journalism is committed to this kind of work.
Here I found the “other” narrative.. Intelligent Optimism is the tagline of my favorite
magazine, Ode. Their headlines read.. "an ode to possibilities.. Buddha in the
boardroom.. and in praise of slow".. I found this narrative emerging across media
channels (web, magazine, radio)..
Wednesday, April 10, 13

14. these channels deliver real news.. by real journalists... or people doing the great good work in the field.
Positive news journalists are not normal journalists. They are *social entrepreneurs* turned journalist;
they feel there is a need to get the message out and create a new media culture!
Wednesday, April 10, 13

15. Only few common journalists feel the burning, dynamic spirit, the idealism that fuels positive news writers. - Eric Schneider
Wednesday, April 10, 13

16. Reiterate -Optimism is the tendency to anticipate the best possible outcome. Intelligent optimism is one grounded in
reality.. these channels deliver real news.
Wednesday, April 10, 13

17. pessimistic
demoralizing
reactive
ironic
external
negative narrative
repetitive gloomy
fear
MENA news coverage today
agenda
fragmented poor digital
driven
design
inspirations
creative detailed
polluted
Wednesday, April 10, 13

18. optimistic
inspirations
aspirational
hopeful
GOOD
fruitful intelligent sustainable
positive
local
there’s a different perspective narrative
fun traditional collaborative
spirited
creative
inspirations
healthy
clean
Wednesday, April 10, 13

19. imagine a news media platform that presents a visually engaging,
intellectually stimulating, simple and uplifting narrative on the
region, the people, the culture, the environment and religions.
Wednesday, April 10, 13

20. pessimistic
demoralizing
reactive
ironic
negative
repetitive gloomy frightening
fear
local
how do we transition? narrative
fun traditional collaborative
spirited
creative
inspirations
healthy
clean
Wednesday, April 10, 13

21. today’s narrative
Wednesday, April 10, 13

22. change the way you look at things and the things you look at change
Wednesday, April 10, 13

23. understanding digital consumers
• connected - eager to share
• quick to judge - short attention span
• need repetition 3-5 times for it to effect behavior change.
• wants engagement
Attentionomics - http://www.slideshare.net/EdelmanDigital/attentionomics-captivating-attention-in-the-age-of-content-decay
Wednesday, April 10, 13

24. our region on the
web
• rapid consumption of new
social media tools
• learning to co-create
• learning from the web
• disconnected realities - digital
& non
• thirsty for positive content?
Wednesday, April 10, 13

25. shorter - faster - more relevant
Hyper-
connectivity
shorter Hyper-
attention transparency
spans
the micro cycle
Miniaturization
of content, Fragmentation
products, and of demand
services and supply
Wednesday, April 10, 13

26. conclusion - the macro of micro
• CRAFT a strong narrative and have it reverberate across social news streams.*
• SHRINK
• format
• time
• distribution
• authority
• ENGAGE
Wednesday, April 10, 13

27. The Product baraka
bits
• baraka: prosperity, abundance, blessing, growth
Wednesday, April 10, 13

28. what it looks like
+ + = baraka
bits
420 characters a photo a poll
• offer GOOD news in small digestible bits
Wednesday, April 10, 13

29. Wednesday, April 10, 13

30. where the news comes from..
Editorial content by our team ..
+
& Many others
Wednesday, April 10, 13

31. where it will run
+ +
in the region MOBILE is king
Wednesday, April 10, 13

32. how it will grow
baraka
baraka
bits + + + = bytes
slideshows a micro clip
deliver most voted-for content in bytes
Wednesday, April 10, 13

33. from small to large
b i l l i o n
baraka + baraka + b i l l i o n
bits bytes
b i l l i o n
b i l l i o n
editorial sponsored crowd sourced
Wednesday, April 10, 13

34. to an eLearning platform? youth need inspiration and positive
role models. Showcase success and grow more of it.
Wednesday, April 10, 13

35. join us in building the web with good news from
the middle east.
Wednesday, April 10, 13

36. www.barakabits.com baraka
bits
Wednesday, April 10, 13