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14 October 2004

Arab Journalists Say Media Reform Depends on Political Change

Al-Jazeera, Daily Star editors address Georgetown conference

By Emily Harter
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- Showering both praise and criticism on their own media, several distinguished Arab journalists declared that change in the wider political culture of the Arab world is the key to improving the Arab media.

Thomas Gorguissian, Washington correspondent for An-Nahar in Lebanon, told a conference October 7 that he wished he were able to declare the state of the Arab media confident and strong but, unfortunately, that is not the case. The conference, "Uncovered: Arab Journalists Scrutinize Their Profession," was hosted by Georgetown University in Washington.

Despite the technological advances in the Arab world, the boom and boon of satellite television, and the growing access to the Internet, the Arab media still face many obstacles, Gorguissian said. "The relation between the media and Arab government still is not clear," he explained. "The control or the desire to control is always there. Even the independent media [are] subject to this control."

The An-Nahar writer said in many cases important news still cannot come from some of the capitals of the Arab countries because "there is no free movement, no free access to the place of the event" or "the official is not ready to give access or even talk about what happened." In these cases, Arab media outlets have been forced to rely on news reports from the United States, Europe and sometimes even Israel.

Hafez Al-Mirazi, the Washington bureau chief for Al-Jazeera, supported Gorguissian's assertions, pointing to the negative effects the internal news blockades create. "When you obstruct the Arab media in reporting from your country, when you say Al-Jazeera cannot go into Saudi Arabia or Bahrain, you are pushing that Arab media to create views and not news," he explained.

Gorguissian added that there is also a journalistic tradition by which authorities in Arab countries use "carrots and sticks" (rewards and punishments) to keep journalists in line -- more often the latter. Authorities often intimidate, harass and sanction journalists if they do not write as directed, sometimes detaining or imprisoning them, he said.

Even though Arab media often use or copy U.S. and Western programming -- for example, many Arabs watch shows like "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and an Arabic version of "American Idol" -- they still have a long way to go to match the quality and degree of reporting on conflict, he declared.

In essence, he said, Arab governments reverse the FOX News motto, "We report, you decide," to "We decide, you report," as they try to control both access and reporting by the media.

Private media outlets are expanding, especially in satellite television, Gorguissian said. "The dishes are mushrooming all over the region. Much, much better things ... can come and have to come out of that part of the world" if only Arab governments would loosen their controls on the media.

Rami George Khouri, executive editor of the Lebanese independent newspaper The Daily Star, suggested that the media could not become an effective tool for positive change because of the lack of political pluralism in the Arab world. "Angry citizens who watch the Arab media in the Arab world cannot then go and vote and change their leaderships," he said.

Another weakness Khouri cited was the media's reluctance to address the roots of power in the Arab world. According to him, without public analysis and accountability, "you are dealing with a fraudulent political process."

Although the members of the panel agreed that changes within the political culture are needed to facilitate more open media, some panelists cited progress already being made.

Khouri explained that the explosion of the Internet, the presence of FM radio, and a growing offshore press are giving Arab journalists the opportunity to overcome the limitations authorities impose on them. "It does not matter anymore if the sheik of Syria, the Saudis or the Egyptians don't like an article in the Herald Tribune or the Daily Star, and they forbid the paper to be distributed," he said, "because we are sold in 10 other Arab countries, and anyone can go on the Internet and read our paper there."

Moreover, Khouri said, private media are becoming more popular within the Arab world because "the government-owned media, like the governments themselves, are losing audience share, credibility and legitimacy."

In his opinion, a general liberalization is occurring. "It is a more open, more liberal system, more user-friendly, even within traditionally state-controlled media like the Egyptian and the Jordanian." The combined forces of globalization, privatization and commercialization, he said, are pushing the market-driven media increasingly to sell advertising and capture audience share.

During a question-and-answer session, Khouri also talked about the growing role of women in the Arab media. Acknowledging there is one segment of women appearing on television to market its sex appeal, Khouri said women are also "doing very sophisticated news programs, analysis, and reporting." For example, he noted, "a lot of the reporting from Palestine was done by a woman, and it is very good."

The Bush administration has developed a program within the Middle Eastern Partnership Initiative (MEPI) to increase the representation of women in journalism. The initiative allocated $1.7 million in the past two years to Internews, an international NGO, to provide media training to Arab women. In December 2003, Internews helped 13 Egyptian women complete university training in journalism at Western Kentucky University while placing them in internships with American newspapers.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)