Arab Media & Society

Meanwhile, Sunni Arab regimes are using television as a weapon in their battle over who speaks for Islam. Egyptian- and Saudi-controlled satellites have been distributing a channel operated by Iraq’s anti-American Sunni insurgency. Al-Zawraa mixes graphic footage of attacks on U.S. troops with vitriolic verbal assaults on Iran and its perceived Iraqi allies, including Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, feeding a growing Cold War with Iran and its Shiite allies (after days of relentless jamming from an unknown source, Nilesat finally pulled the plug on Al Zawraa in late February but the channel continued to appear on Saudi-controlled Arabsat).

Al Manar and Al Zawraa offer a vivid reminder that the study of Arab media isn’t just an academic exercise. The media is not only the new battlefield of ideas, but it may even be supplanting at least some of the more traditional battlefields.

Witness Beirut in the waning months of 2006. In an earlier era, the assassination of Christian leader Pierre Gemayel would likely have been the spark that ignited a new round of civil war. But instead, hundreds of thousands of Lebanese supporters of the so-called March 14 Movement took to the streets in a televised reprise of the rallies that forced Syria’s withdrawal. Then, in answer days later, hundreds of thousands of Hizbullah supporters staged their own mass protests, likewise transmitted live, 24/7 across the region and around the world. For the moment, the power of the camera had trumped the power of the gun.

Not surprisingly then, Lebanon is home to the region’s latest all-news offering, a spin-off from Future TV, controlled by the family of the late Rafik Hariri. Unlike other regional news channels, this one is aimed primarily at the domestic market.

Other regional newcomers include the Dubai-based family channel al-Aan, and OTV, a youth-oriented station which will broadcast the first newscast presented in colloquial – in this case Egyptian – Arabic. It will be produced in partnership with Al Masry Al Youm, Egypt’s leading independent newspaper.

As with so many other Arab media outlets, the messages are mixed. Owner and telecom mogul Naguib Sawiris says the news will take on the “sarcastic” tone of some U.S. cable broadcasts, but he adds that the entertainment programs will avoid the kind of controversial issues that "gets one into trouble.”

And then, of course, there is Al Jazeera English, which has made tiny Qatar a global media player.

Make no mistake, not all of this change – or, perhaps, even much of it – has to do with freedom of speech in the classic sense. Or even about making money, which few – if any – satellite channels actually do.

A desire for political influence is probably the biggest factor driving channel growth. But ego is a close second. “Everybody wants their own channel,” one media executive recently told me, shaking his head over one of the latest entries.

But TV isn’t the only playing field for Arab power brokers.  More than 90 private radio stations can now be heard in the Middle East and North Africa. In many cases, “private” is a relative term, with owners carefully vetted, heavy government involvement, and/or rules preventing the channels from broadcasting news.

One of the more innovative examples is Ammannet.net, a pioneering online radio venture founded by Palestinian journalist Daoud Khuttab. It was recently awarded Jordan’s first private radio license. As Khuttab describes in an audio interview in our multi-media section, the station takes a determinedly community-oriented approach.

Meanwhile, aggressive new newspapers, like Al Gad in Jordan and Egypt’s Al Masri Al Youm, chip away at the boundaries of traditional print journalism.

Media reform is the watchword of the day in capitals like Rabat, Amman and Abu Dhabi. Egypt, which once dominated Arab broadcasting, is drafting a proposal to privatize its bloated media sector (Egypt Radio-Television Union employs some 38,000 people). Other governments are doing the same. Yet many Arab journalists fear it’s all just show.

Whatever the motives of individuals or governments, the fact remains that media in the Arab world, as elsewhere, is a microcosm of, and catalyst for, society.

The U.S. and other Western governments are betting money – lots of money – on the idea that media can make a difference. US AID has poured millions into Arab media reform – $15 million in Egypt alone. Various individual European government are backing ventures like Ammannet.net and media watchdog groups, and the European Commission is also getting its wallet ready.