Media Scandals Across the Arab Western Divide

Posted by Bertrand Pecquerie on December 7, 2005 at 11:39 AM

Interesting analysis from Danny Schechter, editor of MediaChannel.org, about the consequences of paid-for articles by American military in the Iraqi Press (Danny is currently attending the Arab and World Media Conference in Dubai): "Saudia Arabia’s media savvy Prince Alwaleed, who says he is pro-American and manages the Kingdom’s billion dollar investments in foreign companies like News Corporation and Time Warner, now argues that there are so many competing media outlets that they are undermining stability in the very country the Pentagon wants to stabilize."

He told that "the numerous TV channels now competing in Baghdad shows that the US does not understand Iraq. He said that more TV outlets and hundreds of quarreling new tabloid newspapers are actually undermining political stability. In short they are overdoing it - killing off democracy in the name of introducing it."

Another Saudi Prince, Khalid Al Faisal who heads the Arab Thought Foundation, goes further arguing that media “has become a weapon no less than the weapons of war” to conceal the truth for political reasons or for misinformation. He sees all these media interventions as sabotaging pluralism in the name of advancing it.

He asks “has this media boom enhanced Arab culture or has it become an intermediary for our young to adopt western models and values…. To what extent have our satellite TV’s and newspapers addressed our issues?”

These prominent Arab moderates see all these subsidies as being a channel, not just for political messages, but to advance U.S. consumer values.

Source: MediaChannel and the Arab and World Media Conference website.