New media and the information revolution in the Arab world: An assessment

Middle East Journal

Volumn 54, Issue 3, 2000, Pages 394-418

  Ghareeb, Edmund ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0034195596     PISSN: 00263141     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (49)

1. Harlan Cleveland, "The Information Imperative Embraces Liberte, Egalite, and Access", The World Paper, Summer, 1997. p.1.
2. Cited in a summary of a conference organized by the US Institute of Peace, "Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution in the Information Age" Peace Watch, June 1997, p. 3.
3. US Institute of Peace, "Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution".
4. Edmund Ghareeb and Khaled Mansour, "Al-I'lam al-'Arabi 'ala Masharif al-Qarn al-'Ishrin Bayn Mitraqat al-Dawla wa Sindan al-'Awlama" (The Arab Media at the End of the Twenteith Century: Between the Hammer of the State and the Anvil of Globalization), a forthcoming article to be published in Bahithat, Beirut, 2000. See also al-Sharq al-Awsat, (London) 6 March 2000. Dr. 'Awatif Abd al-Rahman, a media specialist at Cairo University, argues that satellites and the Internet are penetrating Arab culture and aiming at domesticating Arab minds. She states that the Internet is not, in itself, dangerous but there is a danger in how it is used, and since there is no neutral information every idea is influenced by its source of origin. She points out that the three major news wires are Western and that 88 percent of the Internet is in English and 9 percent is in German and 2 percent is in French. She calls for new satellite programming because 80 percent of it is entertainment oriented and 9 percent is sports.
5. Edmund Ghareeb and Khaled Mansour, "Al-I'lam al-'Arabi 'ala Masharif al-Qarn al-'Ishrin Bayn Mitraqat al-Dawla wa Sindan al-'Awlama" (The Arab Media at the End of the Twenteith Century: Between the Hammer of the State and the Anvil of Globalization), a forthcoming article to be published in Bahithat, Beirut, 2000. See also al-Sharq al-Awsat, (London) 6 March 2000. Dr. 'Awatif Abd al-Rahman, a media specialist at Cairo University, argues that satellites and the Internet are penetrating Arab culture and aiming at domesticating Arab minds. She states that the Internet is not, in itself, dangerous but there is a danger in how it is used, and since there is no neutral information every idea is influenced by its source of origin. She points out that the three major news wires are Western and that 88 percent of the Internet is in English and 9 percent is in German and 2 percent is in French. She calls for new satellite programming because 80 percent of it is entertainment oriented and 9 percent is sports.
6. Salam 'Abboud, "Jihaz al-I'lam al-'Arabi al-Dawli Sagh wa 'ala Muridihi wa Taghalghal Fi Qana'at Khusumihi", (The International Information System Shaped The Conciousness of its Devotees and Penetrated Deeply into the Convictions of its Opponents) Al-Quds al-'Arabi, London, 27 March 1998.
7. Conversation with a senior Yemeni official, March, 2000.
8. Jon Alterman, New Media, New Politics: From Satellite Television to the Internet in the Arab World, (Washington: Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Policy Paper No 48, 1998), pp. 77-79.
9. David Hirst, "Qatari Station has Arab World Agog", The Washington Times, 19 April 2000. See also al-Kasim, Faisal (al-Qasim, Faysal), "Crossfire: The Arab Version" Harvard International Journal of Press Politics, 3 April 1999. pp 93-97.
10. David Hirst, "Qatari Station has Arab World Agog", The Washington Times, 19 April 2000. See also al-Kasim, Faisal (al-Qasim, Faysal), "Crossfire: The Arab Version" Harvard International Journal of Press Politics, 3 April 1999. pp 93-97.
11. Naomi Sakr, "Satellite Broadcasting in the Middle East and North Africa: Regulations, Access and Impact", an unpublished paper delivered at the Article 19 International Seminar, Cairo, February 1998, p.3.
12. Oussama Romdhani, "The American Image in Tunisia: The viewpoint of a Tunisian Reporter," Washington, 12 March 1991, a talk given as part of a panel analyzing the media performance during the Gulf War.
13. Jamal al-Din Karmawi, al Hurriya, (Tunis), 26 January 1991.
14. "Welcome to MBC", http//www.mbctvsat.co/english/abot-frm/intr-bdy.html.
15. Al-Hayat, (London) 8 March 2000. p. 8. see also Khaled Hroub, "Repatriating the Offshore Arab Media", Middle East International, 7 April 2000, pp.22-23.
16. Al-Hayat, (London) 8 March 2000. p. 8. see also Khaled Hroub, "Repatriating the Offshore Arab Media", Middle East International, 7 April 2000, pp.22-23.
17. Khaled Hroub, "Repatriating the Offshore Arab Media".
18. Al-Majalla, (London) 21-27 December 1997, p. 64.
19. Nabil Dajani, "Lebanese Broadcasting Scene and Regulation", an unpublished paper delivered on 25 April 2000 at Georgetown University, pp. 17-18.
20. Al-Majalla 21-27 December 1997.
21. Interview with an LBC staffer, April 1999.
22. Interview with a member of Al-Jazeera's Board of Directors, April, 2000.
23. See Hirst "Qatari Station" and al-Kasim "Crossfire".
24. See Hirst "Qatari Station" and al-Kasim "Crossfire".
25. Al-Sharq al-Awsat, London, 31 March 2000.
26. Personal interview with a member of Al-Jazeera's Board of Directors, April 2000. Another source who has worked for Al-Jazeera believes the actual amount provided by the government to be about $35 million annually for about $175 million total.
27. Personal interview March 2000.
28. Personal interview with a member of the Board of Al-Jazeera..
29. Sulayman al-Shammari, Barnamij al-Ittijah al-Mu'akis, ("The Opposite Direction Program") Dar al-Sharq, Qatar, pp. 138-144.
30. Mohammed Jasim al-Ali, "Al-Jazirah Director Describes Plans", al-Dustur, (Amman) 24 April 1999, p. 36.
31. Al-Hayat, (London), 2 May 2000 and al-Quds al-Arabi, (London), 4 April and 2 May, 2000.
32. Al-Hayat, (London), 2 May 2000 and al-Quds al-Arabi, (London), 4 April and 2 May, 2000.
33. Al-Quds al-Arabi, 4 April and 2 May 2000.
34. Interview with a Board member.
35. Sakr, "Satellite Broadcasting" p 5.
36. Jordan Times, (Amman), 28 July 1999.
37. Mark Tungate, "Can Arab News Network Become the CNN of the Arab World?", Reed Business Information Ltd: Media International, Sept. 1998, p 33.
38. Interview with a senior ANN director, March 1999. He also said that ANN may have launched too early and that he sees no light at the end of the tunnel and the plan is simply to survive until circumstances change.
39. Interview with a senior official, April 2000. Abu Dhabi's costs are said to be around $50 million annually.
40. Al-Itjihad (Abu Dhabi), 19 April 2000.
41. Khaled Hroub, "Repatriating the Offshore Arab Media".
42. Jihad al-Khazen, "Censorship and State Control of the Press in the Arab World", Harvard International Journal of Press Politics , v.4 no.3 (1999), pp. 87-92.
43. "Internet Use Skyrocketing in the Middle East". NUA Internet Surveys Ltd, 9 March 2000 http://www.nua.net/surveys/?f= VS&art-id=905355646&rel=true.
44. "Internet Use Skyrocketing in the Middle East".
45. Jon Anderson, Arabizing the Internet, (Abu Dhabi) 1998 p. 31.
46. "Report Profiles usage patterns in Middle East", NUA Internet Surveys Ltd, 9 August 1999. The report shows that 44 percent are college graduates, 18 percent have post-graduate degrees, and 3.5 percent with Ph.Ds, and 69.6 percent of the users were between 21 and 35 years old.
47. The competition from satellite TV is reducing the amount of money which used to be spent on print publications. In 1998, the GCC states spent $1.9 billion on advertising, a 21 percent increase over 1997, but 46 percent went to pan-Arab satellite TV with 24 percent going to Egyptian media and 30 percent to media in other countries. Xinhua News Agency, 22 February 1999.
48. See Ghareeb and Mansour, Al-I'lam al-'Arabi. See also the speech given by Abd al-Hafiz al-Hargham, the director general of the Union of Arab Broadcasters, to the Emergency Session for Coordination Among Satellite Channels, Beruit 14-16 May 1999.
49. See Ghareeb and Mansour, Al-I'lam al-'Arabi. See also the speech given by Abd al-Hafiz al-Hargham, the director general of the Union of Arab Broadcasters, to the Emergency Session for Coordination Among Satellite Channels, Beirut 14-16 May 1999.