R U TXTNG me?
Texting with Aneesh Raman and Patrick Kennedy

Aneesh Raman is CNN's Middle East correspondent, based in the network's Cairo Bureau, a position he has held since November 2006. Patrick J.D. Kennedy is editor of FRANK and the director of public programs and public policy at the Clinton School of Public Service.



A friend once told me that there are two types of people in the world today: those who text and those who don't. But as the world's diverse populations connect at warp speed, the nontexter is fast becoming an endangered species, while the texter is merely keeping pace with human social evolution.

As scientists comb the fossil records to fill in pieces of human history, future generations will only have to trace the chain of text messages to understand the 21st century and its occupants. And despite our immense complexity and multiplicity, the modern individual will be defined by a singular possession: the personal digital assistant (PDA). Put simply, we are Homo texterus.

The emergence of the BlackBerry and the sleek, new iPhone has catapulted texting into an integral part of mainstream American lifestyle. In the United States alone, there are more than 68 million text users, with about 18.5 billion text messages sent each month. Amazingly, an estimated 34 percent of the world's population (about 2.2 billion) uses cell phones, most of which are text-compatible.

As the global reach of texting expands, one area that has enormous potential but has not yet been embraced or fully developed is something that I like to call "text message journalism." Texting provides clear advantages to journalists: speed, accessibility and flexibility. Often in today's journalistic environment the first to report is rewarded, regardless of the accuracy of his or her information. Texting provides a raw, unfiltered glimpse at the world in "real time," connecting a mobile, fast-paced society with information at their fingertips.

I tested my theory while conducting a text-message interview with CNN's Aneesh Raman, who agreed to provide an insider's look from the frontlines of a two-day conference on the future of Iraq (May 3-4 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Eqypt). This was the second such conference; the first was held in 2004.

Delegates from 60 countries attended the conference, most of them at the ministerial level. While the meeting's scope was on Iraq, all eyes were on U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her possible interaction-or lack thereof-with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem.

Aneesh was reporting from Egypt and I was reporting from Arkansas. We were worlds apart; separated by oceans, boundaries and areas of expertise. We had never met face to face, but despite our differences we were able to share our stories and leave our own digital imprint upon history. But it isn't for me to decide whether texting is an effective journalistic tool; that's up to you.

May 2, 2007

PATRICK KENNEDY: (9:12 a.m.) Hey aneesh. Talk to me about your trip to sharm? When did you get in?

ANEESH RAMAN: (9:26 a.m.) Got in last night. Quick flight from cairo. But the flight was, as usual, the easy part. Arrived late in the evening and embarked on a land grab at the summit site. At events like these its often like a scene from the Wild West, everyone carving territory for themselves before the best spots are taken. So top on our list last night was planting the cnn flag, which in our world means placing a tripod on the spot you want. PATRICK: (9:35 a.m.) Hows the mood there amongst the journalists?

ANEESH: (9:43 a.m.) This morning things started to get quite busy - over a thous journalists are expected. The meetings dont kick off until tom so media stragglers are still getting in. TV journalists have a love hate relationship with summits like this. At one level, they can often amount to little more than the photo-op that starts or ends the meetings. But at the same time its a rare chance to have so many leaders in one place and a rare chance for journalists to meet and talk with both them and their advisors.

PATRICK: (9:58 a.m.) It seems electric!! Do you feel pressure or are you nervous on the eve of an international story such as this with the whole world watching?

ANEESH: (10:19 a.m.) The nervs arent there as much now - i assume they are for any and all tv reporters when someones starting out. But the longer you cover a story, the longer you live it, it gets not just easier but more interesting. As for the whole world watching, i think the world is waiting to watch the right moment, the right conf. Similar summits have been held before focused on iraq, similar summits will come after this one. And so far these meetings haven't amounted to any dramatic change on the ground inside iraq. Expectations are expectedly low from all sides.

ANEESH: (10:25 a.m.) More on that - an iraqi official the other day summed it up fairly well when he said summits cannot solve iraqs problems, iraq must solve them. But what they can achieve is getting neighboring countries to not interfere or even better to help more than they are.

PATRICK: (10:33 a.m.) There seems to be a lot of diff focal points each journalist can take. Do you see any storylines beginning to shape up?

ANEESH: (10:41 a.m.) Iraq is what this conference is about but right now?iran is garnering the main focus. There are numerous side debates among us journalists - would they sit down together (unlikely), would they greet each other as they pass (more likely), would they have lower level officials converse (possible). The reason is bc any dialogue btw iran and the us changes what has, for the past year, been a seemingly unbreakable stance from both sides. So you can see why even the most passing of glances btw the iranian fm and sec rice is not just relevant but, after decades of no diplomatic ties, it would be laced with incredible potential impact. ?

PATRICK: (11:02 a.m.) What about malikis performance - how closely is he being watched?

ANEESH: (11:14 a.m.) Hes been battling fierce criticism at home and abroad for not just being weak but also for allowing the govt to lean too much in favor of the shia. Sunni govts like saudi arabia, egypt and jordan are reserved about aid in part bc they dont think maliki is doing enough to bring sunnis into the fold. Hes in a tough spot, raging violence at home, near innumerable political?hurdles, and he also finds himself uncomfortably stuck at times btw the us and iraqi neighbors like syria and iran. The iraqi govt hopes it can ease tensions btw the us and iran/syria bc that can only help the situation in iraq.

PATRICK: (11:29 a.m.) Youre obviously skeptical of the value of such a conference. There has to be some benefit in getting all of these players to the table?

ANEESH: (11:31 a.m.) Hey have to do some live shots. Will write back in an hr.

ANEESH: (1:49 p.m.) There is rarely a net loss when you have a summit like this. The mere fact that iraq, its neighbors, members of the G8, of the un security council, of the arab league are all sitting down together is of course a good thing. But the problems in iraq are so massive, that the time when just sitting down together was enough has long passed. ANEESH: (2:06 p.m.) Hey im getting kicked out of our live spot so will finish tom if thats cool.

PATRICK: (2:10 p.m.) Thats great aneesh. Do you mind if i send a few through the day tom?

ANEESH: (3:30 p.m.) No worries. I start lives at 2aest so ill be around.

May 3, 2007

PATRICK: (2:37 a.m.) Good morning aneesh. Has anything happened much this morning?

ANEESH: (2:41 a.m.) Im actually sitting in the conf room right now. Meetings have just kicked off. 20 ft away is iranian fm. Across room is sec rice. Right now iraqi pm opening conf. This morning the iraqi deputy pm told me "enough is enough," that the international comm needs to come together to help iraq. Still seems debt relief most likely end result but everyone keeping a close eye on any interaction btw sec rice and her iranian/syrian counterparts.

PATRICK: (2:59 a.m.) The room must be packed. . .u mentioned previously that maliki must prove himself in the international comm - especially here in us. How are other countries/people responding to his speech?

ANEESH: (3:01 a.m.) Cant gauge anything beyond the fact they are listening, maliki has just called for iraq to be forgiven of its remaining debts, whether that happens at the end of this summit will show how well hes been received.

PATRICK: (3:04 a.m.) What kind of debt are we looking at?

ANEESH: (3:18 a.m.) About 56 billion in external debt, its about 2x as much as 04.

PATRICK: (3:32 a.m.) I dont suppose you can cover that? LOL. Whats the agenda look like the rest of the morning?

PATRICK: (4:10 a.m.) Havent heard from you in a while - anything new?

ANEESH: (4:14 a.m.) Hey. Sorry, been running around. In an hr will have big break to write the rest.

PATRICK: (5:45 a.m.) Whats new-you able to report anything?

ANEESH: (6:42 a.m.) Right now the diplomats are mainly in bil meetings. Im back in the hall waiting for the afternoon session to start.

PATRICK: (6:57 a.m.) There are reports that sec rice is set to hold talks with the syria fm. What have you heard about this?

ANEESH: (7:18 a.m.) We are hearing from senior state dept officials that sec rice will meet her syrian counterpart for bil talks this afternoon. It is a big moment given the recent history. Expectations about a similar situation with the iranian fm are dwindling. Was just in the main hall talking to senior iraqi officials and they seem eager to get iran/us to talk and clearly are trying what they can. If it doesnt happen here theres a sense it could happen soon.

PATRICK: (7:32 a.m.) Thnx for the update. Please update me as u hear more on the syria situation.

ANEESH: (8:25 a.m.) To give you a sense of the chaos here. Rumors just floated that sec rice and iranian fm met over lunch. I spoke to the iranian fm who said opnly he had met with un sec gen. Then syrian fm walked by and said he didnt know if hed meet rice and two minutes ago told me he was meeting her today. So things are all in flux ...

PATRICK: (8:31 a.m.) That sounds crazy and ambiguous enough to make sense. Keep me posted.

PATRICK: (9:07 a.m.) Has the chaos become more chaotic?? The story seems firm in the us that sec rice is supposed to meet with syria fm, but that seemed in doubt in your last text. The iranian push seemed to have stalled, but u mentioned that a rumor still persists that there is hope in sharm.

PATRICK: (9:19 a.m.) There is a specific mention about reducing the flow of foreign fighters across the syria-iraq border. Any news brewing??Ill take what i can get.

ANEESH: (9:28 a.m.) The border info was coming out of baghdad but seems rice may have just met with syrian fm. At the moment am standing outside on the lawn waiting to talk to iranian fm spokesman.

PATRICK: (9:35 a.m.) Any news from iran??

ANEESH: (9:38 a.m.) Rice has met with syrian fm, no photos though. Last i had heard from syrian fm is that they (US and Iran) would meet.

PATRICK: (9:52 a.m.) With rice meeting with syrian fm, do u think there is an increased pressure for iran to try a stronger diplomatic approach? Also, anything specific coming out about the syrian meeting?

ANEESH: (9:59 a.m.) About to be live on cnn so can answer some of this.

ANEESH: (10:30 a.m.) Rice doing intvs with all us networks tonight so im sure more details will come. As for iran, it does perhaps put pressure on iran since the iranian-syrian alliance may be weakening but it also puts pressure on the us. Why talk with syria and not with iran?

PATRICK: (10:33 a.m.) And how closely is iraq involved in the back and forth of consensus building btw syria & iran with the us?

ANEESH: (10:42 a.m.) Iraq desperately wants to be involved, it wants to broker talks btw the us/iran/syri. The reason is they dont want proxy wars fought on its ground given the existent domestic violence. But clearly theres only so far they can push any of the others.

ANEESH: (10:56 a.m.) And this is interesting timing on the border comments bc they came out of baghdad about syria from us military officials shortly before rice met with syrian counterpart. It could be the meeting is a diplomatic reward of sort, or a desire to keep up momentum. But no matter how you explain it, meeting with syrian fm seems a signif shift in us foreign policy.

May 4, 2007

PATRICK: (4:01 a.m.) Good morning aneesh. After a busy and eventful day yest, how do you see the day shaping up?

ANEESH: (4:16 a.m.) The mood is more subdued this morning. Syria meeting was yesterdays headline and now focus is shifting back to iran. At the moment digging around for information on last nights dinner. Sec rice had planned to exchange some words with iranian fm but the iranian fm left before she arrived. Sources say there is effort on both sides to figure out a way for direct talks perhaps limited to iraq. Sense is that if it doesnt happen here, it could happen in a few weeks.

PATRICK: (4:24 a.m.) Also, the main question here is how much pelosis visit impacted the syrian "breakthrough" yest.

ANEESH: (4:32 a.m.) As for pelosi its a difficult thing to know. I think more than that, the pressure the us has faced from iraq and others in the mid east to engage with syria seems to have hit a breaking point.

PATRICK: (5:27 a.m.) With all the interest on iran and syria, im curious if youve heard any good stories or seen an unusual amount of good will from other countries w/in the region?

ANEESH: (5:41 a.m.) Its tough to say, bc our glance at things at summits like this is limited. Delegates in closed session now and am in press conference room waiting for rice. On the other questions is it cool if i do those tom? Its been 4 days of 4 hrs of sleep.

PATRICK: (5:53 a.m.) Absolutely! Me too. Lets follow up tom.

May 5, 2007

PATRICK: (9:09 a.m.) Overall, was the summit a positive move for iraq?

ANEESH: (9:51 a.m.) On the last day of the summit i met for dinner with iraqs fm. I know him well from my time in iraq. Hes always been a great barometer for the mood among diplomats. He felt quite good at how the summit went, but it was clear for all involved, it was important to get everyone at the same table. I did get a clear sense on the sidelines of the summit that inroads were slowly being made especially btw the us and iran. And that the possibility for direct talks at some level - perhaps ambassadorial level in iraq - seemed likely to come soon. But under the more grueling microscope of daily life in iraq, i dont think the summit will translate to much. All the pledges for debt relief are contingent upon follow through by iraqs govt on issues that have proven near insurmountable so far. There is clearly more of a push to get reforms done with the summit behind them, but the iraqi govt seems unlikely to suddenly, bc of a meeting in egypt, do all that it has proven incapable of doing.

PATRICK: (10:11 a.m.) Whats your post-summit analysis on the syrian fm talk with sec rice? Anything on possible next steps?

ANEESH: (10:42 a.m.) It was clearly a first step, nothing more, by sec rice. The syrians are ready for a us ambassador to return. But sec rice is understandably cautious. Keep in mind we have diplomatic relations with syria, we have an embassy there, we just dont have an ambassador. So there is more wiggle room with the syrians w/o looking like things are moving too fast. The syrians will have to show some change in actions to get things to go beyond what happened in sharm and it will be interesting to see if they do.

PATRICK: (11:01 a.m.) The iranian-us diplomatic stalemate seemed to play a similar tune, but i was left with some hope from your last words. Whats your view?

ANEESH: (11:25 a.m.) There is more will on both sides now, more than any other time in the past year, for the two to talk. The logistics are not easy when you are dealing with nearly 30 years of diplomatic silence. And it may take a couple of tries. But both wash and tehran suggest an openness to talk, creating a significant potential opportunity. That said, this relationship is so affected by the news of the day, its tough to predict anything beyond a few months from now. PATRICK: (11:56 a.m.) You gave me a taste of the mid east while im in arkansas. Do you think through our text journalism adventure, you were able to provide an altern source of news that i might not have received through the networks?

ANEESH: (12:47 p.m.) I think i was able to give you a sense of what it was like to be at the summit. The question is whether the average american would also be interested. Of course the color of who's running around where, is inherently more interesting than static facts about an iraq compact. The difficulty on our end is combining the two. Not ignoring the substance of the story for the sideshow aspects. But not diving so much into substance that you lose the viewer. But i think our intv was in essence like a blog with you having the chance to constantly shape the coverage with your questions. It could be that down the line at summits such as this, networks and papers have one reporter assigned to real time reporting with readers getting to ask constant questions.

PATRICK: (1:10 p.m.) Aneesh its been fun. Give everyone there a big howdy for me from arkansas.

ANEESH: (1:17 p.m.) Sounds good. Was fun on this end too. Thanks.