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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Arab Media Wars |
| 2009-01-23 |
| ABU DHABI -- Surf the blogs in the Arab world and you find a common theme: the Bush administration has blindly supported Israel's Gaza war and the U.S. media has been shilling for "the aggressors." Ask the average American and it's a good bet that you will hear the opposite view: Arab governments all support Hamas and the Arab media is militant group's mouthpiece. The truth is somewhat more complex. Neither the Arab world, nor the Arab media, is a monolith. Saudi Arabia and Egypt have sought to prevent Hamas from scoring political gains at the expense of the more secular Palestinian authority led by Fatah, while Qatar is leading a Gulf bloc that equates support for Hamas with support for the Palestinian people. The fault lines have produced a media war in the Arab world. "What journalism we have today!" a leading Saudi columnist declared in print, charging his colleagues with "marketing the idea that any anger at the Israeli bombardment is unjustified and that any support for resistance is incitement for terrorism." The rift is most evident on the broadcasts of the region's bitter television rivals. During the three week conflict, Al Jazeera, owned by the government of Qatar, focused on vivid images of bloodshed accompanied by commentary thick with moral outrage. Rival Al Arabiya, owned by Saudi interests close to the royal family, chose to avoid the most graphic footage and take a more measured tone. The contrasting approaches reflect both the very different perceptions of the role of Arab journalism in the two newsrooms and the political rift between their respective patrons. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |