The Middle East in the Media: Conflicts, Censorship and Public Opinion

Several long-lasting conflicts shape the Middle East and dominate its representation in local, regional and international media. Since the 1990s, the Arab media landscape has undergone a rapid transformation, and this is affecting both how news is covered and the ways in which information is broadcast.While new technologies emerge, such as Arab television and blogging, censorship is adapting to control output, with limited success. Jihadist and dissident websites, as well as TV channels owned and run by political groups such as Hezbollah, proliferate, and the Arab ‘media wars’ continue to mirror conflicts on the ground. The essays in this collection provide an up-to-date analysis of the Arab media sphere as well as its reflection and response in Western media.