Media and Communication in the Arab World

30-8-2018

-        The ancients said about freedom ..in all its forms: Whoever does not own his legitimate freedom...and his ability to express himself....and whoever does not see his political rights preserved...cannot resist the fierce aggression...." It was stated in one of the modern sociology books..

-        Freedom in itself resembles the currency that people trade in the markets..And the currency of freedom has two faces..the first of which is public opinion...and the second is the media" ..and the English philosopher...John Stuart Mill...said about "freedom of the press"..in 1859.. "that freedom of the press..is a guarantee..one of the guarantees that ensures the struggle against manifestations of corruption..and authoritarian governments.".. As Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights...issued in 1948, also stipulated: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."

-        Freedom of expression is a framework whose elements include freedom of the media, freedom of the press...and the media in general...These freedoms rest on freedom of opinion....And it has been said about the power of the word and its influence in times of peace and war...."Words are the ones that kill...first..while bullets...come afterwards"..

-        And the Arab researcher Dr. "Samir Hussein" defined the media by saying: "All forms of communicative activity..that aim to provide people with all the facts..and correct news..and sound information..about issues, topics, problems and the course of events objectively...and without distortion..so as to create the greatest possible degree...of knowledge, awareness...and full comprehension and grasp..among the segments of the public"
The press, which is one of the media...has become a great force for change and influence in the world...It has been said about it that it is a fourth power..in the full sense of the word..and on many occasions, its ranking changes and it takes precedence in the list of the four ruling powers in any society...It is always entrusted with obtaining information...and presenting the facts..by virtue of which..laws are enacted...and societies are organized..only when it has freedom....of movement...and speech..therein lies opportunities for change...that the Arab citizen hopes for..and awaits..but...the reality...is different from the hopes..and the picture is incomplete...

-        Concealing the truth...and withholding information...from individuals and media outlets...in Arab societies...were features of Arab regimes and their media..which relay only the information of the ruling authority...For example, in the late 1950s of the past century....when some sectors of the Arab masses were listening to the radio "Voice of the Arabs" which broadcast from Cairo, and the main announcer was the late Ahmad Said.....in those days when the Arab nationalist tide was in its youth...and despite the scarcity of radio receivers at that time...those sectors were punished with imprisonment if caught in the act of listening to this station and its programs....Also our fathers and grandfathers in those days....listened only to Radio London..at the times of its news bulletins..and they would gather at the owners of radio sets when they wanted to access the correct news as they conceived it, since they did not trust their national broadcasts

-        It is regrettable that after these decades of time..and in these days .and despite the change in concepts, tools, systems, and policies, and despite all Arab countries having obtained their traditional independence..except Palestine...still afflicted until now...the prevailing impression among the children and grandchildren of that generation remains that truthful news is heard only from a foreign media or communication outlet...with the exception of some current Arab television satellite channels such as Al Jazeera, Al Mayadeen, MBC, Al Arabiya and others...which cover events...international and local widely and anew..However, for these Arab audiences there is a preconceived notion that such stations are affiliated with some party..for a bias pervades between the lines of their news bulletins or their coverages...a slant in favor of one party against another and the Arab citizen feels that the coverage is not merely non-objective...but that in the form of its performance..it conveys a certain stance...and the bias appears...in many respects...for example by focusing on certain aspects...of the event and omitting others...or by selecting certain aspects...of the incident covered by the news..while neglecting others...or by insisting on highlighting particular points...in a given position...etc... News bulletins on Arab government or semi-government television channels..whose news is drawn from the news agencies in each Arab country...appear stamped with the style of an authoritarian-oriented news bulletin...and without important content....Let us look at how the space for freedom to publish Arab news information changed when some daily and weekly Arab newspapers and magazines began to be established in countries of the diaspora ..such as Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Al-Hayat and Asharq Al-Awsat in London, and some newspapers in other capitals in Europe such as Paris...and others..Such Arabic newspapers and magazines published abroad were able to escape the sword of official Arab censorship...and consequently this was reflected in the content of their bulletins and articles..and the wide freedom of opinion that emanates from the columns of their publications and their treatments of topics concerning Arab societies and world issues....

-        The establishment of a knowledge society in any country is one of the responsibilities of the media and communication means in society...for the importance of these means equals the importance of schools and universities....to reinforce incentives to create a knowledge society...It is also understood that the wider the margin of freedoms enjoyed by the media and communication means....the more they will be concerned with important issues in society...such as good governance...and social cohesion and empowerment..and social issues...etc...and these issues are at the core of the knowledge society....Any reduction in the effectiveness of communication and media means in society...such as governmental control, and the absence of press freedoms......reduces the ability of the general public to access correct information..

-        The Arab citizen always desires to reach the correct information..and to feel that it is honest...without equivocation...or belittling their intelligence..he seeks certainty, but we see that there are communication systems in some Arab countries that, for example, prohibit publishing news of crime...as proof of the security and safety..enjoyed by the ruling authority in this Arab country or that one...And there are other systems that exaggerate in publishing that, as proof of the vigilance of the police and the efficiency of security measures..... The formulation of news in most Arab countries lacks two important elements: namely...: What happened? And why? It is also customary, in many Arab countries...to exaggerate in wording the news using comparative forms and the like, to highlight the achievements of regimes...and from the lines of the news emanates a lack of credibility, flattery, hypocrisy..and favouring..the ruling authority and circles related to the ruling authority

-        In light of the withholding of full information from the aware masses in the Arab homeland..when the Arab government-funded and government-monitored media lost much of its significance..due to its lack of credibility which earns trust....these masses, in recent years...turned to external communication means...where the world of knowledge, with its wide space and the product of globalization and the technological revolution...and where social media, the Internet, and smart phones...provide the need for information with great ease, in addition to the fact that the source of this information and news is known..."

-        The absence of comfortable margins of freedom for the country's media...and in the presence of official regulatory means that make it difficult to deliver information to the Arab public...and the absence of representative parliamentary representation..in the true democratic sense..and the absence of real concepts of genuine democracy in most Arab societies..and in the absence of a system of freedoms and an independent judiciary...the Arab public turns to seek the truth...and to attempt to obtain information...from abroad..... There is no doubt that these behaviors arising from all these regimes aim to mold individuals of society into certain frameworks, as they seek to shape the Arab citizen...in the desired direction...by clear and obvious methods...seeking to falsify his awareness. by broadly granting him the space to generally live, work, play, and travel wherever he wishes...provided that the regime is left to think for him...and to decide state policy..on his behalf..And in some countries a venting occurs by granting a certain degree of freedom of expression. However all these behaviors feed into the crisis of democracy in the Arab homeland..

-        It is worth noting that any review of the news in the Arab newspapers shows that these papers adhere to sourcing official and foreign news..from the country's official news agency...alone..and government instructions are issued...about how to handle topics related..to certain events or issues...and a ban on publishing on some matters, and the imposition of strict censorship...on the content of foreign correspondents' dispatches before sending them..and other manifestations of the authorities' and their media's undeclared conduct...while these authorities boast that there is nothing preventing the press from writing freely in the country...but the truth...as they say the measure is not...the written texts.....but the common practices...

-        In addition, and so that a knowledge society can be established, one of the tools for enriching societies is books, yet unfortunately we find, for example...that in most parts of our Arab world, distributing any book in these Arab states requires obtaining a permit from the local censorship...in advance before printing...or distribution...and in most cases the censor performs his role based on instructions..he reads the text..bound by the instructions...all of that imposes many restrictions on the author or publisher..leading to the impoverishment of Arab societies...of the corpuses of science, literature, art, and so on..as they appear within the pages of books...and it goes without saying that censorship in this way...negatively affects creativity and production...for there cannot be a thriving publishing industry...without freedom of expression...and respect for the other opinion...and reliance on plurality and democracy...

-        The nature of communication and media leaves strong effects on the organization of society....Any cultural industry undertaken by ruling regimes...through multiple and restricted media...actually undermines the audience's capacity in Arab societies..for sound critical independent thinking.. Thus we see a culture of flattery, hypocrisy, and not telling the truth....when individual opinions are expressed regarding an issue...
The discussion of political issues...has become contingent on what happens in parliaments..if they exist....and in the media...while the dominance of commercial...and economic interests has taken root...as they have prevailed over the public...good...and public opinion no longer forms through rational...open discussion...but has become the outcome of processes of cajoling...manipulation, and imposed control...There are other problems in Arab societies regarding communication and media: censorship...of communication content in the Arab countries is common...and terrifying...and it is a greater danger to the content of communication than legal censorship...

-        Globalization...has granted, among some of its benefits...tools for individuals' personal liberation...social communication tools and smartphones...and the Internet technology...have been suitable and liberated tools from censorship as they connect individuals to an immediate global library, with hundreds of millions of books...People, including Arab audiences, have been able to obtain information, books, and sources of science and knowledge...by searching the Internet, browsing books and references, even books banned in a given country...whether political or social..you can download them and add and acquire them in an individual's electronic library...beyond the reach of the censor

-        The democracy of information exists on the Internet...where information is at all times, everywhere, and for everyone...there is a network of fast routes for exchanging information...However the Internet and information technology do not only disseminate knowledge, they also deploy it...The world...in light of globalization and the communication means now available, is now referred to as "online"; electronic relations enrich...human communication...between individuals, groups..and institutions.....and strengthen personal relationships...and they also compress a tremendous amount of procedures in transactions and commercial exchanges...

-        We have seen local laws in some Arab states...to monitor modern electronic communication means...and it is understandable that reasonable censorship...of these electronic communication means that enter without permission...is a basic requirement to protect society...from some undesirable side effects. For there is no freedom without responsibility...and open freedoms are a danger that violates the principles of liberty. But we see excesses in some of these countries...in the conflation of concepts of censorship intended to protect society and its security, and censorship concepts intended to protect the interests of the ruling authorities...which leads to a kind of unjustified repressive policy...against individuals...just as the term terrorism in past decades...which was meant exclusively to refer to negative and violent extremism...was employed by some Arab regimes to apply the label of terrorism to anyone opposing their interests..and policies..thus including opposition parties..to be a target of this term..This weakens the country and the fabric of its society..and fuels extremism..in another way...

-        In the Arab homeland...there is no single elected government and there are no parties...and no one needs a media voice...to respond to the opposition...because the opposition...does not have a voice...in the first place...As for the mosque (al-jami') among Muslims...in the Arab countries...it is considered a religious, social, and political media outlet that cares for the community's religious and life issues...Regimes in the majority of Arab states proceeded to appoint mosque preachers and placed them on the payroll of the Ministry of Islamic Endowments..and the Friday sermon...is approved by a government censor...and thus the preacher cannot address topics not approved by the ruling authority..otherwise he will lose his job..It was said in one of the books on contemporary Islamic thought and media that I have read, that the Umayyads succeeded in abolishing the political function of the jami' by preventing political dialogue from its foundation. But they did not know how to prevent the congregation itself from meeting...which obliged them to look for a plan that would ensure the meeting take place in complete silence...a dilemma...the Umayyads easily solved it by sending a preacher to every jami'...each Friday...whose first and second tasks are to speak at the gathering so that the attendees do not speak....

-        We want the media to protect itself within its professional...and union frameworks...and to change its policies, free itself from dependence...and cover all of society's issues from A to Z, with credibility and transparency...and to build credibility in reporting, editing, and proper verification..We do not deny that some Arab states have an acceptable sense of press freedom...and publishing books, such as Lebanon and Egypt...but we aspire to a complete change of our media in all its means..and we hope to take pride in having a free press that corrects distortions..and is a vigilant guardian of the advancement of our societies...so that we take our natural place in this new world...to know what happened? and why?....truthfully and honestly...and away from lies, hypocrisy, deceit, and flattery in reporting the news...

-        The Messenger of God, peace be upon him, said: "One of the greatest kinds of jihad is a word of truth spoken to a tyrant ruler"....So saying the word is media...and when it is said to an unjust authority that prevents freedom of expression.....in direct confrontation.. it rises to the level of jihad....