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by MEB Journal Staff
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 Dale Matthews is President of the MEB Institute and the new Managing Editor of the MEB Journal. He has taught courses in Advanced Television Production at Oregon State University in the United States and runs the very popular – and probably only – computer-generated, virtual reality television production course in the world. A veteran broadcaster and academic, Matthews has found a place for his passion for broadcasting and education in the mission of the MEB Institute. MEB approached Matthews in September about a joint venture; together, the new team promptly created the “Setting Broadcasting Standards” campaign, aimed at universities and broadcasting companies throughout the Arab world. To launch the campaign, Matthews proposed a sample project that would involve hundreds of young women athletes, a prestigious U.S. sports event, and a team of video students flown in from the Middle East. The event was first of its kind – both in the Middle East and in the U.S. Contributing to the MEB Journal for the first time, Matthews speaks about the importance of education, prospects for reform in Arab broadcasting, and the potency of the MEB Institute.
What has it been like to teach in virtual reality?
I find that being involved with young people is a tremendous privilege. In the virtual reality environment of my classroom, the students are avatars, as am I. They make presentations, I give lectures in the Socratic style, and then we leave the confines of the [virtual] classroom, and fly around in aircraft – or drive around in student-designed vehicles – while I pepper them with questions about computer graphics, journalism, radio, and television production. The best part is that the students have voted the quizzes as their favorite part of the course.
How did you come up with the idea for the first MEB Institute initiative?
Think big, move quickly, make progress every day – that’s my motto. As a training session for the students, the Las Vegas event fit in very well with MEB’s new “Setting Broadcasting Standards” program.
We approached several institutions, and the United Arab Emirates University jumped at the chance. I told them that this year’s competition in Las Vegas would include the nation’s very best female volleyball players, from 32 teams across America. We produced a live webcast of the final matches of our national championships.
It was a rigorous challenge for these students, and the first time that university students from the Middle East have produced a live television sports program from the United States. Do you know how hard it is to accomplish something that has never, ever been done before – in both the history of television – and on the Internet?
How was your experience working with young students from the United Arab Emirates?
It was very, very exciting for me. What a great opportunity to work with students from the Middle East. And the girls were great, too; they performed every important task just the way I coached them. But we did discover some important gaps in knowledge. The things they had seen before, they knew very well; but there were entire areas that most of them had never heard of.
Are you basing MEB’s “Setting Broadcasting Standards” campaign on an American cultural model?
Absolutely not. We’re developing a new standard – a broadcast standard straight from the Middle East. We’re not going to be simple-minded consumers sitting slack-jawed in front of a Japanese television set watching American and European programs! We’re going to develop our own world-oriented media. What I mean by that is: we should all ask why is it that programs produced here are not snapped up by marketers from other parts of the world? We buy their programs – why don’t they want ours? American broadcast producers are quite friendly, and of course, their productions are very attractive. So, if we’re going to compete in the world’s marketplace of ideas, we’re going to have to be better than they are. We’re not going to shut ourselves off. We can beat them by cooperating.
But the American broadcasting business has an incomparably larger budget than the Middle East. Do you think we can catch up?
If money was the only factor, America would be ranked first. No, that’s not what holds back the Americans. It’s lack of cooperation. And that’s how Middle East broadcasters can win back their own audiences – and influence the rest of the world. I think the Arab world is losing its own audiences to eager broadcasters from outside the area. They see an increasingly sophisticated consumer base – and huge new markets. If you allow the world to outpace you, they’ll eat your lunch.
What is the exact role of the MEB Institute in advancing this mission?
The MEB Institute is reaching out to adopt the Japanese keiretsu model for industry cooperation – but we’ll improve on that by adding our universities to the formula. We started by sponsoring the UAE University training session in Las Vegas and co-sponsoring the First Annual Student Film Festival with Notre Dame University in Lebanon. More universities and production companies are next to be added. Multilateral cooperation is the key.
We’ll build on the credibility that the MEB Association has with international organizations and with its creation of the first HD station in the Arab world. The Institute can benefit and connect those companies directly with universities to receive not only training, but also equipment and software. I am also preparing into offering online classes, possibly in virtual reality, which is the latest trend in the world.
I am also suggesting that we make the technical side of the MEB Journal into a practical guide to production resources. If you’re a producer, from now on, the Journal will help you make smart decisions about equipment and techniques that will help you accomplish your productions.
How does your position as President of the MEB Institute match with your position as the Managing Editor of the MEB Journal?
It’s a perfect match, an integrated plan. I will blend the Institute and our Journal into the same style of cooperation that we are now forming with the universities and broadcasters. It’s a circle. We will all benefit from the accomplishments of others – even our competitors. The Journal will serve the Institute’s mission by distributing the benefits.
More on the background of Dale Matthews is available from the MEB Association and from back issues of the peer-reviewed Heuristics – The Journal of Knowledge Engineering & Technology. Also see past editions of Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Education, Who’s Who in Science and Engineering, and Who’s Who in the World.
You may reach Dale Matthews at
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Interview 
