algeria egypt iraq jordan bahrain kuwait lebanon morocco libya oman palestine united arab emirates saudi arabia syria iraq-kurdistan tunisia iran qatar yemen DEVELOPMENT MEDIA OF SUSTAINABLE SUSTAINABILITY INDEPENDENT MEDIA IN THE MIDDLE EAST INDEX AND NORTH AFRICA 2009 MEDIA SUSTAINABILITY INDEX 2009 The Development of Sustainable Independent Media in the Middle East and North Africa MEDIA SUSTAINABILITY INDEX 2009 The Development of Sustainable Independent Media in the Middle East and North Africa www.irex.org/msi Copyright © 2011 by IREX IREX 2121 K Street, NW, Suite 700 Washington, DC 20037 E-mail: [email protected] Phone: (202) 628-8188 Fax: (202) 628-8189 www.irex.org Project manager: Leon Morse Assistant editor: Dayna Kerecman Myers Copyeditors: Carolyn Feola de Rugamas, Carolyn.Ink; Kelly Kramer, WORDtoWORD Editorial Services; OmniStudio Design and layout: OmniStudio Printer: Westland Enterprises, Inc. Notice of Rights: Permission is granted to display, copy, and distribute the MSI in whole or in part, provided that: (a) the materials are used with the acknowledgement “The Media Sustainability Index (MSI) is a product of IREX with funding from USAID.”; (b) the MSI is used solely for personal, noncommercial, or informational use; and (c) no modifications of the MSI are made. Acknowledgment: This publication was made possible through support provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under Cooperative Agreement No. #DFD-A-00-05-00243 (MSI-MENA) via a Task Order by the Academy for Educational Development. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed herein are those of the panelists and other project researchers and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or IREX. ISSN 1546-0878 ii USAID USAID is an independent federal government agency that receives overall foreign policy guidance from the Secretary of State. USAID supports long-term and equitable economic growth and advances US foreign policy objectives by supporting: • economic growth, agriculture and trade; • global health; and, • democracy, conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance. USAID provides assistance in five regions of the world: • Sub-Saharan Africa; • Asia; • Latin America and the Caribbean; • Europe and Eurasia; and • The Middle East. With headquarters in Washington, DC, USAID’s strength is its field offices around the world. USAID works in close partnership with private voluntary organizations, indigenous organizations, universities, American businesses, international agencies, other governments, and other US government agencies. USAID has working relationships with more than 3,500 American companies and over 300 US-based private voluntary organizations. IREX IREX is an international nonprofit organization providing thought leadership and innovative programs to promote positive lasting change globally. We enable local individuals and institutions to build key elements of a vibrant society: quality education, independent media, and strong communities. To strengthen these sectors, our program activities also include conflict resolution, technology for development, gender, and youth. Founded in 1968, IREX has an annual portfolio of over $60 million and a staff of over 400 professionals worldwide. IREX employs field-tested methods and innovative uses of technologies to develop practical and locally-driven solutions with our partners in more than 100 countries. Implementing Partners IREX wishes to thank the following organizations that coordinated the fieldwork for and authored a number of the studies herein: Arab Media Forum for Environment and Development (Egypt) http://www.amfed-media.org/ Filastiniyat (Palestinian Territories) http://www.filastiniyat.org/ Gulf Forum for Citizenship (Oman) Journalistic Freedoms Observatory (Iraq) http://www.jfoiraq.org/ Kurdistan Institute for Human Rights http://kihr-iraq.org/ iii MIDDLE EAST & MENANortH AFRICA Introduction ..................................................................................................... vii Executive Summary .......................................................................................... ix Methodology ..................................................................................................xvii North Africa TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE Algeria ............................................................................................................... 3 Egypt ................................................................................................................ 13 Libya ................................................................................................................. 27 Morocco ........................................................................................................... 35 Tunisia .............................................................................................................. 51 Levant Jordan .............................................................................................................. 65 Lebanon ........................................................................................................... 75 Palestinian Territories ..................................................................................... 87 Syria ................................................................................................................ 101 Gulf Bahrain ........................................................................................................... 113 Iran ................................................................................................................. 125 Iraq ................................................................................................................. 139 Iraq-Kurdistan ................................................................................................ 149 Kuwait ............................................................................................................ 157 Oman ............................................................................................................. 167 Qatar .............................................................................................................. 177 Saudi Arabia .................................................................................................. 189 United Arab Emirates ................................................................................... 197 Yemen ............................................................................................................ 209 v Egypt and Tunisia led the way in losses, with .3 pared from the countries’ overall scores. However, the two countries have very different media environments and still are separated by a wide margin in score. vi MEDIA SUSTAINABILITY INDEX 2009 INTRODUCTION I I am pleased to introduce the 2009 Middle East and North Africa Media Sustainability Index (MSI). The MSI ntroduction provides an analysis of the media environment in 19 countries of the Middle East during 2009. The MSI was first conceived in 2000 and launched in Europe and Eurasia in 2001, in cooperation with the United States IAgency for International Development (USAID). Since that time, it has become a universally recognized reference for benchmarking and assessing changes in media systems across the Middle East, Africa, and Europe and Eurasia. The MSI allows policymakers and implementers to analyze media systems and determine the areas in which media development assistance can improve citizens’ access to news and information. Armed with knowledge, citizens can help improve the quality of governance through participatory and democratic mechanisms, and help government and civil society actors devise solutions to pervasive issues such as poverty, healthcare, conflict, and education. The MSI also provides important information for the media and media advocates in each country and region. The MSI reflects the expert opinions of media professionals in each country and its results inform the media community, civil society, and governments of the strengths and weaknesses of the sector. IREX continues to encourage professionals in their vital efforts at developing independent and sustainable media in their own countries or, in many cases, preserving alternative voices in the face of repressive governments. IREX would like to thank all those who contributed to the publication of the Media Sustainability Index 2009. Participants, moderators, authors, and observers for each country, listed after each chapter, provided the primary analysis for this project. At IREX, Leon Morse managed the MSI with editorial and administrative assistance from Dayna Myers. USAID has been a consistent supporter of the MSI, helping to develop the project and ensure its ongoing implementation. In particular, IREX would like to thank Mark Koenig for his invaluable guidance and support of the MENA MSI. We hope you will find this report useful, and we welcome any feedback. Sincerely, W. Robert Pearson President, IREX INTRODUCTION vii A question IREX sometimes receives, and is discussed by outside observers, is: “Does the public, or even the media itself, in many of these countries value quality, objective journalism?” Looking at scores for Objective 2, Professional Journalism, in the Middle East, it does seem to be a question worth exploring. viii MEDIA SUSTAINABILITY INDEX 2009 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY E In analyzing scores for 2009, in total the Middle East and North Africa region lost ground as a whole. Taken as an aggregate average each objective