30 Apr 2007
In general, the media plays a paramount role in determining people's views of the news or to borrow from Al Jazeera English's motto - it sets the news agenda.
What TV stations (and radio and the internet) deliver is what people take in. In contrast, what information one doesn't know, one won't be affected by it.
In the post-1945 period the Middle East, as elsewhere, entered the era of the radio. The late 1980s and 1990s brought the region a further development, that of broadcasts from independent bases (mainly from Western Europe). Satellite TV stations were set up in London such as MBC and ANN. But one important factor is that these stations did not fully engage in objective reporting - much like the Middle East-based stations.
As for the BBC, renowned for its objectivity, an Arabic TV service was launched in 1996. Supposedly an independent channel enjoying protection of the British state, it was closed immediately because its Saudi transmission partner, Orbit TV, disapproved of a programme on Saudi Arabia.
Hosam Al Sukari, chairman of BBC Arabiya told audiences at this year's Dubai Media Forum, organised by the Dubai Press Club under the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, that now that they've secured British government funding they plan to re-launch an Arabic BBC channel by November-December. BBC's line is that the British government does not have a say on their editorial content.
Here in the Arab world, there has been a regional campaign to develop media coverage of news and actually enhance it. This is shown through the tremendous amount of cash allocated to either existing projects or new ones. New technology is now apparent on television coverage and newspapers are constantly re-launching themselves and enhancing their designs.
Having said that, there are basic trends in the Arab world which must be pointed out. Some states today seek to restrict satellite or internet coverage, which brings us to an important question - is each group of media operating from Middle Eastern capitals an arm of the state? Furthermore, can these outlets run independent reporting or do they always face censorship?
Freedom of speech
Before media in the Arab world can be referred to as advanced and developed in terms of both technology and content, important areas must be looked into. The first and last area is the question of freedom of speech.
Most speakers at this year's Arab Media Forum agreed that freedom of speech is not yet reached in this part of the world. Editor-in-Chief of Egypt's Al Ahram newspaper, Osama Saraya, said the Arab world must provide "a real atmosphere for a free press". In other words, talking about free speech - while it is optimistic - is ineffective unless live action is taken.
What is more, media companies must constantly train and retrain their staff. Journalists shouldn't have to go on with their careers uninterrupted or unexposed to new methods or techniques.
It should be pointed out that media crucially plays a role on the political stage and sometimes has political influence and autonomy. Remember the TV clip showing the death by Israeli bullets of a 12-year-old Palestinian boy, Mohammad Al Durrah, in October 2001? This rallied Arab public opinion in an unprecedented way. It even shaped some states' foreign policies.
There is today a multiplicity of voices from the Arab world and on the Arab world. The media should be used to sharpen the level of political awareness within Middle Eastern states and to portray a correct image of who is and what is Arab globally - albeit few in the West will be interested in listening to the Arab talking about an Arab (Al Hurra TV and Sawa radio, both American projects are a testimony to this).
Finally, it is a mistake to confuse plurality of voices on Arabic TV with genuinely advanced and modern media. It is true that the internet and satellite television are in some respects provide a greater diversity of information and more critical voices than was previously the case. But the strength of this independent cultural space should not be exaggerated and constant work must be employed to improve the quality of news delivery in the Arab world.
By Manal Alafrangi
Gulf News 2007. All rights reserved.
