MTV answers

(If you have no idea what this is all about, read this: https://ohmyhappiness.com/2012/02/24/an-open-letter-to-mtv-lebanon/)

I got a phone call from a guy that works at MTV. He said that Michel el Murr had asked him to get in touch with me. He acknowledged having read the letter, and thanked me for writing it. He said that MTV is taking what I said into consideration and that they will try to see how to integrate these changes into their TV shows.

I clarified one point that I felt was not clear in my letter, namely in relation to the popular skit Majdi w Wajdi. I clearly stated that they are actually the real threat and that they are the ones doing most of the bullying. I briefly told him about the (horrible) Twitter exchange that I had with Majdi w Wajdi.

I also highlighted that while my letter focused mostly on gay issues, MTV has had a history of disrespecting and bullying other minorities, and I would like to see changes to the way these issues are discussed.

The guy asked me how many views the article had gotten and what the feedback had been. I told him (around 2000 views) and I told him that I had seen it pop up on various Facebook profiles, so there might be comments there that are not on the actual article

The guy said that he would take all of that into consideration and draft a proposal to be applied internally. He said he would get back to me as soon as that was done.

I offered to help in any way possible.

Overall, the guy was extremely positive and seemed to sincerely want to see changes applied.

So… fingers crossed. I’ll keep you posted as things happen.