R Global Communications Global Communications Arab Media Systems EDITED BY CAROLA RICHTER AND CLAUDIA KOZMAN EDITED BY CAROLA RICHTER AND CLAUDIA KOZMAN ICHTER This volume provides a compara� ve analysis of media systems in the Arab world, AND based on criteria informed by the historical, poli� cal, social, and economic factors infl uencing a country’s media. Reaching beyond classical western media system K typologies, Arab Media Systems brings together contribu� ons from experts in the OZMAN Arab Media fi eld of media in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to provide valuable insights into the heterogeneity of this region’s media systems. It focuses on trends in government stances towards media, media ownership models, technological ( innova� on, and the role of transna� onal mobility in shaping media structure and EDS Systems prac� ces. ) Each chapter in the volume traces a specifi c country’s media — from Lebanon to A Morocco — and assesses its media system in terms of historical roots, poli� cal and legal frameworks, media economy and ownership pa� erns, technology and infrastructure, and social factors (including diversity and equality in gender, age, ethnici� es, religions, and languages). This book is a welcome contribu� on to the fi eld of media studies, cons� tu� ng the only edited collec� on in recent years to provide a comprehensive and systema� c RAB overview of Arab media systems. As such, it will be of great use to students and M scholars in media, journalism and communica� on studies, as well as poli� cal scien� sts, sociologists, and anthropologists with an interest in the MENA region. EDIA As with all Open Book publica� ons, this en� re book is available to read for free on S the publisher’s website. Printed and digital edi� ons, together with supplementary YSTEMS digital material, can also be found at www.openbookpublishers.com Cover design by Anna Gat book eebook and OA edi� ons also available www.openbookpublishers.com OBP To access digital resources including: blog posts videos online appendices and to purchase copies of this book in: hardback paperback ebook editions Go to: htps://www.openbookpublishers.com/product/1281 Open Book Publishers is a non-proft independent initiative. We rely on sales and donations to continue publishing high-quality academic works. Global Communications Series editors Michael Brüggemann Merlyna Lim Sven Engesser Marie-Soleil Frère Carola Richter Ingrid Bachmann About the series Global Communications is a book series that looks beyond national borders to examine current transformations in public communication, journalism and media. Books in this series will focus on the role of communication in the context of global ecological, social, political, economic, and technological challenges in order to help us understand the rapidly changing media environment. We encourage comparative studies but we also welcome single case studies, especially if they focus on regions other than Western Europe and North America, which have received the bulk of scholarly atention until now. Empirical studies as well as textbooks are welcome. Books should remain concise and not exceed 300 pages but may ofer online access to a wealth of additional material documenting the research process and providing access to the data. The series aspires to publish theoretically well-grounded, methodologically sound, relevant, novel research, presented in a readable and engaging way. 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You can fnd more information about this series at: https://www.openbookpublishers.com/section/100/1 Arab Media Systems Edited by Carola Richter and Claudia Kozman https://www.openbookpublishers.com © 2021 Carola Richter and Claudia Kozman. Copyright of individual chapters is maintained by the chapters’ authors. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0). This license allows you to share, copy, distribute and transmit the text; to adapt the text and to make commercial use of the text providing attribution is made to the authors (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Attribution should include the following information: Carola Richter and Claudia Kozman (eds), Arab Media Systems. Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers, 2021, https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0238 In order to access detailed and updated information on the license, please visit https:// doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0238#copyright Further details about CC BY licenses are available at https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/ All external links were active at the time of publication unless otherwise stated and have been archived via the Internet Archive Wayback Machine at https://archive.org/web Updated digital material and resources associated with this volume are available at https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0238#resources Every efort has been made to identify and contact copyright holders and any omission or error will be corrected if notifcation is made to the publisher. This project received support from the Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA) that has been funded under the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) grant 01DL20003. This publication was fnanced in part by the open access fund for monographs and edited volumes of the Freie Universität Berlin. ISBN Paperback: 9781800640597 ISBN Hardback: 9781800640603 ISBN Digital (PDF): 9781800640610 ISBN Digital ebook (epub): 9781800640627 ISBN Digital ebook (mobi): 9781800640634 ISBN XML: 9781800640641 DOI: 10.11647/OBP.0238 Cover design by Anna Gatti based on a photo by Duangphorn Wiriya on Unsplash at https://unsplash.com/photos/KiMpFTtuuAk Contents Contributor Biographies vii Introduction xi Carola Richter and Claudia Kozman 1. Lebanon: A Faltering Mesh of Political and 1 Commercial Interests Sarah El-Richani 2. Syria: A Fragmented Media System 19 Yazan Badran 3. Palestine: Resilient Media Practices for National 37 Liberation Gretchen King 4. Jordan: Media’s Sustainability during Hard Times 55 Basim Tweissi 5. Iraq: Media between Democratic Freedom and 73 Security Pressures Sahar Khalifa Salim 6. Saudi Arabia: From National Media to Global Player 91 Marwan M. Kraidy 7. United Arab Emirates: Media for Sustainable 109 Development Mohammad Ayish 8. Qatar: A Small Country with a Global Outlook 127 Ehab Galal 9. Bahrain: Media-Assisted Authoritarianism 145 Marc Owen Jones 10. Kuwait: From “Hollywood of the Gulf” to Social 163 Media Diwaniyas Fatima Alsalem vi Arab Media Systems 11. Oman: Time for Fundamental Changes 181 Abdullah K. Al-Kindi 12. Yemen: Unsettled Media for an Unsettled Country 197 Abdulrahman M. Al-Shami 13. Egypt: A Divided and Restricted Media Landscape 215 after the Transformation Hanan Badr 14. Sudan: Media under the Military–Democratic Pendulum 233 Mahmoud M. Galander 15. Libya: From Jamahirization to Post-Revolutionary Chaos 249 Carola Richter 16. Tunisia: The Transformative Media Landscape after 267 the Revolution Noureddine Miladi 17. Algeria: The Costs of Clientelism 285 Nacer-Eddine Layadi, translated by Abdelhak Bouifer 18. Morocco: Competitive Authoritarianism in 303 Media Reforms Bouziane Zaid and Mohammed Ibahrine Conclusion 323 Carola Richter and Claudia Kozman Acknowledgements 343 Index 345 Contributor Biographies Abdullah K. Al-Kindi, Ph.D., is Professor of Journalism and Electronic Publishing at Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. In his research, he focuses on media policies, media coverage of wars and crisis, and Omani media. He has authored and translated several books, and he recently co-authored a book entitled Omani Pioneer Journalists (2020). Abdulrahman Al-Shami, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Broadcast Journalism at Qatar University. In his research, he focuses on new media and social change, as well as on satellite channels. He is the co-founder of AREACORE, the Arab-European Association of Media and Communication Researchers, and a board member of AUSACE, the Arab-US Association of Communication Educators. Fatima Alsalem, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Mass Communication at Kuwait University, College of Arts. In her research, she focuses on social media, public opinion and journalism, as well as on online extremism and radicalization. Mohammad Ayish, Ph.D., is Professor and Head of the Department of Mass Communication at the American University of Sharjah, UAE. His research interests include Arab world satellite broadcasting, media ethics, social media and convergence, and digital storytelling. His most recent co-authored book, with Noha Mellor (2015), is titled Reporting in the MENA region: cyber engagement and pan-Arab social media. Previously, he served as Dean of the College of Communication at the University of Sharjah, UAE. Hanan Badr, Ph.D., is Associate Professor in Mass Communication at the Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST), Kuwait, Assistant Professor at Cairo University, and a long-time afliate of viii Arab Media Systems Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. Her research focuses on comparative media systems, Arab journalism, political communication and digital public spheres. Yazan Badran is a Ph.D. fellow of the Research Council–Flanders (FWO) and a researcher at the Echo and imec-SMIT research centers at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium. His research lies at the intersection of new journalism and political activism in the post-2011 Middle East and North Africa region (MENA).