From the airing of bin Laden tapes to the coverage of war in Iraq, the rise of the new media in the Middle East is an important and controversial development. When contrasted with the government-controlled media that limited Arab public information and expression in previous decades, the new media, especially satellite television networks such as Al-Jazeera, have moved to the foreground of regional politics and U.S. foreign policy. Utilizing original and ground-breaking public opinion surveys within the Middle East, best-selling author Shibley Telhami lays out the implications of this historic expansion in media activities and outlets.
Telhami’s timely investigation explores the actual impact of these media on Arab public opinion and, more important, on how they help form notions of identity in the region. Do the media mirror public opinion or do they shape it? Are they reinforcing Arab identity at the expense of state identity in the Arab world? As one of America’s most sought-after intellectuals and commentators on the region, Telhami offers a unique analysis of the trends that will shape the Arab media, and how the U.S. government will interact with them in coming years.
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