Introduction: The Re-Structuring Of The Arab Broadcasting Space A process of restructuring of the Arab broadcasting space began in the mid 1990s. It has given rise to a metamorphosed and completely new media scene, manifested in the expansion and the liberalisation of transnational satellite channels. The technological innovations that led …
Read More »Transnational Broadcast Services and Their Impact on the Peace Process in the Middle East
At the beginning of the new millennium and almost a quarter of a century after the Camp David accords that established hope for peace in the Middle East, a comprehensive peace is still a dream and Arab-Israeli relations are at a peak in terms of conflict and disagreement. Israel and …
Read More »Satellite TV Welcomed at The Cairo Film Festival
The role of satellite television, particularly those channels making intensive use of movies in their programming, was acknowledged as an increasingly important factor in the film industry during the 26th Cairo Film Festival (October 15-25, 2002). "Satellite channels with films have helped create a new outlet for independent films." Ismail …
Read More »On-demand and Interactive – TV’s Fifth Generation
The Arab World is at the dawn of a new entertainment era. Communication technology revolution and the expansion of new media in the region have led the way to the effective delivery of on-demand entertainment and introduced a unique opportunity for passive Middle Eastern viewers to become active users and …
Read More »Middle East TV Continues To “Baffle And Bewilder”
Middle East broadcasting has seen some major changes this past summer - and not all of them are good. First, John Tydeman, ADD (Arab Digital Distribution)'s president has departed the company. Tydeman is a well-known and highly-regarded figure in satellite pay-TV, having been one of Rupert Murdoch's key players in …
Read More »National Versus Pan-Arab Reach: Which Way for Egypt’s Private Commercial TV Channels?
The Egyptian pan-Arab television sector is enigmatic in more ways than one. Observers of the Egyptian media know very well that, at heart, it is profoundly more pan-Arab than any other Arab media area. Its pan-Arab reach, however, does not tally with its expectations and, consequently, its market share of …
Read More »The Role of Media in Defining Arab Culture—AUSACE’s 2002 Beirut Conference
"How are the modern media affecting Arab identity? And how is globalization affecting our culture?" These were among the questions posed by Dr. Ramez Maaluf, Director of the Beirut Institute for Media (BIMA), in his remarks at the opening of the seventh annual conference of the Arab-US Association for Communication …
Read More »The Minotaur of ‘Contextual Objectivity’: War coverage and the pursuit of accuracy with appeal
The pursuit of objective coverage has always been a cornerstone of the ideals of journalistic endeavor. Schools of journalism have consistently enshrined and standardized objectivity as the prime responsibility of a responsible reporter. Scholars in mass communication have also grappled with this concept for decades, articulating it in multiple contexts …
Read More »A Smaller Mediterranean? Satellite TV Channels and the Arab Community in Italy
From land of emigrants to new Eldorado There won't be streets lit up for the festivity. There won't be lanterns or local cakes or the traffic that precedes most iftars (meals taken at sunset to break the fast). But in Mazara del Vallo, the small Sicilian town that is now …
Read More »New Guys on the Block: Al-Majd 2 and Khalifa TV
If one believed that the region was drifting to polarization, which TBS is in no way suggesting, then the simultaneous entry of Al-Majd 2 and Khalifa TV would make a good argument for such a case. Names are deceiving. Khalifa TV does not take theirs from any aspiration to revive …
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