WASHINGTON, April 26 (UPI) -- Technological advances in the Middle East have encouraged more liberal coverage of controversial issues; however, the Arab media have yet to influence the region's political culture.
The information revolution that swept the Arab world has resulted in the development of more than 180 Arabic language satellite television stations, as well as new radio stations and increased Internet access, said journalists at a panel discussion on the rise of Arab media hosted by American University in Washington, D.C., Tuesday.
The changes in the Arab media culture have resulted in more freedom for the press, which is particularly evident in satellite television news broadcasts, said Edmund Ghareeb, an adjunct professor of Middle East history and politics at the university.
"This new media appears to be offering greater liberation, more information and more diversity of news sources," Ghareeb said.
He said taboos in the Middle East, such as atheism, adultery, the role of women, government corruption and violations of human rights, were being shattered by the new media.
"There is no doubt that the new media has broadened the range of debate," Ghareeb said. "It has lifted the ceilings of discussion. It has brought new issues, new ideas."
Rula Dajani, a senior producer at the Washington bureau of the Arab-language broadcast channel Al-Jazeera, said she has noticed improvements in the Arab media, but added that it is too early to determine whether these developments will affect the political culture.
Dajani said that although Al-Jazeera is able to air programs criticizing the policies of various Arab governments, the people cannot speak out for reform because the environment still restricts their freedom of expression.
"(Viewers) are being faced with the political culture in the Middle East," she said. "It is very hard to make a change."
Some journalists, such as Salameh Nematt, the Washington bureau chief of the Pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayath, are more skeptical of the intentions behind a freer media.
"The biggest and most important, most influential media in the Arab world are the Arab satellite channels," Nematt said. He cited Al-Jazeera and its competitor Al-Arabiyah as the channels with the biggest impact on their viewers.
Nematt said that while he recognized that governmental reform is debated on these channels, he does not believe their purpose is to change the mind-set of the Arab people because both channels are government-owned.
"These governments have no interest whatsoever in a free media that could undermine them," he said. "They do it for the sole purpose of discrediting the cause of reform."
He described the Arab media as a propagandistic tool used to tarnish the image of democracy.
He added that as long as the Arab media continue to serve autocratic regimes, rather than democratic ones, they will have a negative effect on the political culture and beliefs of the Arab world, regardless of any technological advances.
"This media is playing more of a destructive role than a constructive role," Nematt said.
Ghareeb and Dajani said they do not believe the Arab media have ulterior motives, but that the news is geared toward specific target groups.
"There is no doubt that nothing has exasperated the rulers of many of the Middle Eastern countries and pleased the audiences as much as the new media," Ghareeb said.
Nevertheless, both Ghareeb and Dajani did agree with Nematt that the Arab media do not yet play a constructive role in shaping the public's political ideologies.
"I'm not so sure this new freedom is necessarily connected to the political process where it is going to be translated to political activism," Ghareeb said. "There's no doubt it's having an impact, but it's too early to say it's going to lead to democratization and liberalization."
