Media in Lebanon

ACRLI 2007 Country Report: Media in Lebanon Dima Dabbous-Sensenig, PhD Director Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World Lebanese American University Beirut, Lebanon May 2007 Research staff: Houry Mayissian Razan al-Salah Narmeen al-Horr Jad Baaklini 1 Table of contents Chapter One Contextual Background 4 Chapter Two Analysis of the Principles 12 1. Independence 13 1.1. Fundamental guarantees of the independence of the media 13 1.1.1. Freedom of expression 13 1.1.2. Freedom of the press 13 1.1.3. Freedom of association 14 1.1.4. Access to information 15 1.2. Explicit and fair regulatory framework for media activity 17 1.2.1. Official permission for the establishment of media outlets 17 1.2.2. Media oversight authorities 21 1.2.3. Licensing requirements 30 1.2.3.1. Discriminatory or excessive requirements 30 1.2.3.2. Lebanese ownership requirement 31 1.2.3.3. Religious pluralism in ownership requirement 32 1.2.3.4. Anti-concentration of ownership requirement 35 1.2.3.5. Restrictions on cross media ownership 38 1.2.3.6. Cost for licensing 39 1.2.4. Laws on defamation 41 1.2.4.1. Types of defamation 41 1.2.4.2. Entities protected by defamation laws 42 1.2.4.3. “The law of the kings and heads of state” 43 1.2.4.4. When truth is a defense in libel cases 44 1.2.4.5. Implementation of defamation laws 45 1.2.5. Reasons for suspension and seizing of press cards 46 1.2.5.1. Reasons for arresting journalists and the legality of implementation 46 1.2.6. Laws on closure and seizure 47 1.2.6.1. Reasons for closing media outlets 47 1.2.6.2. Implementation of closure laws 48 1.2.7. Laws for media in Arabic language and in non Arabic language 51 1.2.8. Clear and reasonable grounds for sanctions 52 1.3. Censorship 54 1.3.1. Official censorship 54 1.3.2. Government directives on inappropriate content 58 1.3.2.1. Ability to cover good governance issues 63 1.3.2.2. Regulation of international media 65 1.3.3 Self-censorship 68 1.4. Independence from governmental and non-governmental influences 70 1.4.1. Media independence 70 1.4.2. Financial viability 73 1.4.2.1. Fair allocation of advertising 74 2 1.5. Personal Independence of journalists 74 1.5.1. Reasonable control over content 74 1.5.2. Free movement of journalists 75 1.5.3. Physical and economic safety of journalists 75 1.5.4. Role of civil society in protecting journalists 76 1.5.5. No discrimination at all levels 77 2. Integrity 80 2.1. Journalistic ethics 80 2.1.1. Lebanese code of ethics 80 2.1.1.1. Vagueness of the code 80 2.1.1.2. Inability to deal with the complexity of journalistic work 81 2.1.1.3. Omissions 82 2.1.1.4. An obsolete and word-oriented code 82 2.1.1.5. Telling the truth and serving one’s country: an oxymoron? 83 2.1.2. Anti-corruption rules 85 2.1.3. Anti-discrimination rules when employing journalists 86 2.1.4. Criteria for selection and promotion of journalists 86 2.2. Diversity of the media 87 2.2.1. Diverse ownership 87 2.2.2. Expression of pluralistic views 89 2.2.3. Access to the media 91 3. Competence 93 3.1. Qualifications for working journalists 93 3.1.1. Criteria for becoming a journalist 93 3.1.2. Training 94 3.2. Access to the profession 94 3.2.1. Legal restrictions as to who can become a journalist 94 3.2.2 Discrimination and access 96 Chapter Three In-depth Profile – Election Coverage 99 1. Professionals’ perception of the role of the media during elections 99 2. Content analyses of Lebanese media coverage of elections 103 Chapter Four Policy Recommendations 106 Introduction 106 Policy recommendations 108 1. Independence 108 2. Integrity 112 3. Competence 113 Concluding remarks 114 Works cited 116 3 CHAPTER ONE CONTEXTUAL BACKGROUND In order to better understand the nature of Lebanon’s media sector, it is necessary to first understand the nature of the Lebanese state, and the cultural, historical, and geographical specificity that led to the formation of a political system and culture quite “unique” in the region. I am specifically referring here to the dominant national ideology or political culture of confessionalism, an ideology institutionalized in the country’s political system since the establishment of “Greater Lebanon”. This is so despite the provisions of the new constitution of the Second Republic which calls for the abolition of confessionalism as part of a general plan to bring lasting peace to the country. To the external observer, this system may reflect, to some extent, a democratic principle of equity and pluralism that differentiates Lebanon from its neighbors. To the average Lebanese citizen, however, this system does not mean democratization or equal chances for all. Indeed, confessionalism in Lebanon means a Lebanese citizen has democratic rights only in as far as this citizen belongs to a specific, recognized confession (1); not only that, but also that those rights are directly proportional to the numerical size of the religious or confessional community he or she belongs to: i.e., the bigger the community, the more rights and privileges. When such a “formula” is applied to the media, it comes as no surprise that the television stations which were licensed after the war (according to the 1994 Lebanese Broadcast Law) do indeed represent the five major confessional groups in the country. By the same token, it is not surprising either that all other applicants, whether they fulfilled the legal requirements or not, were not licensed. Another consideration needed in order to better understand the media sector in Lebanon today is the traditional role played by the three major communication media (print, radio, and television) as of the formation of the state. The oldest of these media is the newspaper. Although printing was introduced in Lebanon as early as 1610 by a group of Maronite priests, the first popular, non-religious Arabic weekly newspaper in Lebanon did not appear until 1857. It was soon followed by other weekly papers, most of which were edited by Lebanese intellectuals “who sought to educate and guide members of their community” in times of crisis (2). These early Lebanese newspapers came under strict Ottoman political control. Over the years, the severe restrictions imposed on the print media served as a unifying factor, bringing together 4 journalists and political activists and creating a nationalistic outlook. Thus, with the increasing pressure on the press, Lebanese journalists began calling for independence and for the political freedom of the Arabs from the Ottoman regime: This historical link between journalism and politics does much to explain the extremely political character of the contemporary Arab press…Today it is a tradition, which is just as ‘right’ in the minds of Arab editors as is the not-very-old American tradition of objective reporting (McFadden 1953, 4). Unlike the print media, radio remained the only mass medium under complete government control from its inception. Radio Levant was first established by the French mandate government in 1938, with the declared aim of bringing “closer together the French and Arab cultures in both Syria and Lebanon” (Khoury 1976, 14). In 1946, three years after independence, Radio Levant was handed over to the first national government and was dubbed Radio Lebanon to be financed by government funds, and operated under the auspices of the Ministry of Information. Not only was Radio Lebanon the only station legally authorized to transmit inside Lebanon (the monopoly was challenged after the outbreak of the Civil War in 1975 as we will see later), it championed exclusively the cause of whatever government happened to be in power. Rather than complement the relatively independent Lebanese press, Radio Lebanon disseminated government views and policies solely, and reflected throughout a zealous attempt to maintain an uncompromising status quo, failing, even before the outbreak of the Civil War, to cater to the Lebanese public interest. As Dajani sums it up, All through its long history, the official Lebanese radio broadcasting system has failed to develop into a genuine popular channel of information and entertainment accessible to the various religious communities as well as to the different socio-economic groupings... Aside from music programs and certain live broadcasts, the Lebanese radio did not signify very much for the people (1992, 69). The development of the third major communication medium in the country followed an entirely different path. Whereas the print media developed as a reaction to social and political needs (fighting Ottoman imperialism, fostering Arab nationalism, etc.), and while radio was the government’s only available medium for propaganda and a reaction to the existing critical press, television in Lebanon was a purely commercial venture from the very beginning. In October 1954, two Lebanese businessmen (Wissam Izzedine and Alex Arida) submitted an application for a television broadcasting company. Two years later, in August 1956, a 21-article agreement was signed with the government, and La Compagnie Libanaise de Television (CLT) was granted 5 a license for television broadcasting to be re-negotiated 15 years later. Starting transmission in May 1959, CLT was thus the first non-government-operated, commercial or advertisement- supported television station in the entire Arab world. In July 1959, another company (Tele Orient) signed a similar agreement with the government and began transmission in May 1962.

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