The Middle East
Winning Hearts and Minds or
Earning Trust and Respect?
International broadcasters have worked exceptionally hard to cover the events of the war in
Iraq for the global audience. But part of the audience is in Iraq and the Middle East.What effect
has all this coverage had on the regional audience? And how are the media of the region
developing?
Dr.HalehVaziri
is Regional Research Manager for Central Asia, Middle East and
North Africa at AIB member company InterMedia Survey Institute based inWashington DC.
measures, producers and consumers of TVand radio are experimenting
with free expression. Turkey is the Middle East’s only long-standing
democracy among the region’sMuslimsocieties, but other governments
are also putting press freedom high on their agendas.
The reasons for this development vary. Morocco’s and Jordan’s
monarchs are recognizing the utility of media as a legitimate channel
for the expression of popular frustrations. Lebanon’s religious sects
and political parties all have their own media outlets, and their
entrepreneurial spirit is thriving. Iraqi Kurdish media has
proliferated, protected by the American-British no-fly zones and
likely to fare even better after Saddam Hussein’s ousting.
Iran’s journalists have spearheaded the reformist movement that
elected President Mohammad Khatami in
two landslides. Afghanistan’s media
organizations are re-emerging, starting
from scratch after some two decades of
civil-international war. Qatar’s and the
UAE’s emirs have pioneered the
establishment of pan-Arab satellite
television and free-media zones, reaping
regional clout and economic rewards for
their citizens.
Whatever the reason, local media
markets have become quite
competitive if not rather
chaotic. Gone are the days
when state-run television and
radio programmes were the
only viewing and listening
options for Middle Eastern
consumers. InterMedia’s
studies suggest that with
many options available,
regional audiences ?
particularly those with
higher
education,
identifying themselves
as middle class, and
living in urban centres
regularly turn to
numerous news sources.
Consumers check domestic sources against international ones, and
vice versa, to receive a fuller account of major events. International
media such as BBC World, Canal France International, CNN,
Deutsche Welle Radio and Television, EuroNews, RFE/RL, VOA,
and so on face stiff competition from the Middle East’s domestic
and pan-Arab news sources. Regional journalists have improved
their professional skills, and with their intuitive grasp of local
concerns and sensitivities, are surprising their counterparts in
international media with their effectiveness and popularity.
Khatami - journalists provided
landslide victory
I
nternational television
and radio broadcasters have battled,
especially since 9-11, to “win the hearts and minds” of the
Middle East. What they really want then is to woo the eyes
and ears of people in the region. How to do this? This is the
pressing question, and it underscores the need to answer
others: What is the region’s appetite for news and information?
Which media do people depend on and trust? In other words, what
do we know about attitudes and behaviour towards media in the
Middle East’s diverse societies?
Little quantitative data is readily available, and only some qualitative
research has emerged during the last decade illuminating media
consumption patterns in this crisis-ridden area. However, media
moguls and producers, editors and journalists have been designing
television and radio programming based on assumptions that are
questionable at best and perhaps no longer valid among these:
Domestic media competition is thin throughout the Middle East.
News coverage is overwhelmingly censored, with reports about
the U.S. and the West intentionally skewed.
Nationalism and religiosity are the predominant themes
underlying domestic coverage of local, regional, and
international events.
Data collected so far by the InterMedia Survey Institute -
quantitative, qualitative, and anecdotal - increasingly refute this
conventional wisdom, revealing a growing sophistication among
Middle Eastern audiences. The data point to four seemingly
nascent trends that deserve exploration by media researchers as
they formulate their hypotheses for testing, and attention by
international broadcasters as they court the region’s viewers
and listeners.
Producers and consumers of TV and radio in parts of the
region Morocco, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraqi Kurdistan, Iran,
Qatar, the UAE, and Afghanistan are experiencing
political liberalization and experimenting with free
expression. Yet the red lines delineating what is and is
not acceptable are unclear and seem to shift suddenly.
Audiences from Morocco to Afghanistan, from Turkey to
Yemen crave the “truth” defined as accuracy in reporting.
Viewers and listeners are sceptical if not downright suspicious
of claims to objectivity, seeking instead media that are balanced
-
or at least honest about their perspectives.
Audiences want international media to provide an understanding
of the world beyond their geographical and mental boundaries
while respecting the Middle East’s multiple cultural realities.
As some regional governments have recently implemented liberalisation
