The Religious News Service from the Arab World (RNSAW) is the predecessor of the Arab-West Report and provided a weekly electronic digest of Arab Egyptian media, beginning in 1997.
History and profile
RNSAW was founded by a group of top Christian and Muslim scholars in Egypt “to help cut through Western fear of Islam and promote dialogue.” Founders included Abd el Mo'ti Bayoumi, dean of the faculty of theology at the Azhar University, Coptic Orthodox Bishop Thomas, Christiaan van Nispen of the Catholic Seminary in Cairo, Egypt and others.
Editor-in-chief Cornelis Hulsman explained at a lecture for the International Press Institute in Vienna, Austria, in 2000 about poor reporting and the need to build bridges between cultures, countering stereotypes about peoples from different cultures and working toward a better mutual understanding.
The electronic magazine worked with a fixed set of selection criteria for subjects taken from a fixed set of media, thereby providing a systematic non-partisan overview of changes in media reporting over the years. Articles selected concerned the role of Islam and Christianity in Egyptian society, Arab-West relations and continuing dialogue between the Arab world and the West.
RNSAW helped in the compilation of a unique electronic archive that is of relevance to all who want to work towards better inter-cultural understanding. The magazine is frequently referenced by academics and students.