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| During the last decade, the Arab Middle East has witnessed a rapid development of Arab news media which have raised standards and expectations. To a certain degree, new satellite channels have successfully transcended national borders of censorship, and stirred public debates and critical reflection. Audiences across the Middle East and in the ‘diasporas’ are actively participating in talk-shows, and female talk-masters are providing new role-models for women in the region. These channels were also able to reverse the traditional flow of news from Western media to the region. Today, it is the Western media that ask coverage from their Arab counterparts. |
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As the transnational media are rapidly developing, Arab governments somehow have to respond to the quest for freedom of expression. They have recognized in the new media a threat and a financial potential, an ambivalent attitude resulting in the contradictory policies of restricting the media as well as opening new spaces of freedom. The current media sector therefore highlights some of the paradoxes prevalent
in the region.
The Arab «media revolution» has changed the sector, but not necessarily diminished efforts to control the media, and there are still a number of taboo topics that are touching the general social and political framework apart from the media-sector. The media landscapes in the different countries discussed is quite uneven, as are the respective political circumstances, and the social, economic, and intellectual environments. Yet, there are structural commonalities in the limits of the freedom of expression that deserve attention because they reflect on the broader issue of rights and constraints in the region. There is an increasing debate on how far the Arab media will be able to contribute to social and political change.
Against this background, the Heinrich Böll Foundation – which regards independent and pluralistic media as a central pillar of democracy and a crucial element of active citizenship – is seeking to contribute with the following overview to a better understanding of the «status quo»:
The report reviews the situation in which the media operate in the Arab Middle East, specifically in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories, and Syria, and summarizes media resources available in the region. The report draws from a survey of written sources, including literature, press articles, online-resources and reports of civil society organizations. No attempts have been made to verify the information contained in the secondary data sources. The author did not intend to present a scientific study, but to provide introductory information on Arab media (printing press, radio, television, and Internet) to donors and other organizations or individuals interested to engage in the field. It neither evaluates the capacities of civil society actors to
influence media policies, nor does it formulate recommendations. |
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Part 1 examines the structural environment of the media in the Arab Middle East and explores new developments, which have influenced change in the monopoly of information by states and the access of information on part of the public. It also provides information on the function of guidelines for good journalistic practice that circulate in the region.
Part 2 presents an overview over the existing media in the region, as well as over media legislation and issues related to the freedom of expression in the respective countries. |
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Part 3 compiles selected journalistic training opportunities, as well as organizations and projects that are committed to networking, monitoring, advocacy and legal aid. It also contains a directory on media resources, including conferences, research, and literature.
The offices of Heinrich Böll Foundation in the region dealing with media issues since years, present this report within a larger objective: – to create a framework for a meaningful debate on the future role of Arab media within the regional discourse about reform and democratic change in the Middle East.
We’d like to express our gratitude to our colleague, Layla Al-Zubaidi for her commitment in researching and writing this study and thank all those individuals who have contributed their knowledge to the report, and especially Aref Hijjawi of the Bir Zeit University - Media Institute for his comments. |
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Kirsten Maas
Director
Middle East Office |
Christian Sterzing
Director
Arab Middle East Office |
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