Media development in Middle East
According to the Arab Media Outlook 2007-2011 that was issued two weeks ago by Dubai Press Club (DPC), the industry will be driven by several factors led by economy and demographics.
The outcomes of this report indicate that both economy and demographics, in addition to other factors will play a leading role in the growth of the media in the Arab region.
Is it economy?
Lebanon and Egypt are the top Arab countries when it comes to media, both countries have the highest viewed/read and most known media channels in the Arab world whether TV or print, and yet they are not beating gulf countries in terms of economy.
Despite the late entrance, Gulf countries joined the media battle and started to compete with Lebanon and Egypt and managed to gain popularity and reach through TV stations such as AlJazeera and MBC Group, in addition to publications such as Asharq AlAwsat, but the question is: What is the reason behind this delay?
Is it demographics?
Demographics give you a mixed indicator, the population in Egypt exceeds 70 million while in Lebanon it’s less than 4 million. The Lebanese mosaic consists of many religious parties with power and authority, and each needs its own media to represent its views and carry its voice!
A similar example is Iraq, there are so many Iraqi TV and radio stations, new websites and publications have been rolled-out but this activity started once the previous regime ended.
So is it politics?
Media is much attached to politics in the Arab world. The majority of media is a governmental interface, this affects many factors like credibility and reach, and resulted to a limited number of mediums.
Arab countries vary in terms of liberation; in some countries private media don’t even exist, but in those countries that offer private media concept you can find variety of media.
In addition to quantity, politics limits freedom of speech and resulted to shut down lots of media and the arrest of lots of journalists and bloggers.
Arab media’s performance is poor, and whether the reason behind that was politics, demographics or economy, or even altogether the media in the Arab world is supposed to lead the way, when we are going to witness a really independent media that can generate major economical/political/demographical revolution in the Arab world?
