Defying Definition: Toward Reflexivity in “Arab Media” Studies

Abstract

It goes without saying that the uprisings in eight Arab countries that commenced in 2010 have rattled the region’s media landscape in significant ways. Editorial agendas went from obfuscated to explicit as battle lines were drawn between national and subnational groups. Allegiances and interests fractured national sovereignties from one country to the next. Qatari-funded Al Jazeera, in no small measure, adopted an agenda much aligned to its newfound political interests in support of Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood or opposition groups and rebels in Libya and Syria. Private Egyptian networks, once supportive of Mubarak, opposed the Muslim Brotherhood and now cheerlead for the military—all the while commending Egypt’s new allies (Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, and Bahrain) and reprimanding new adversary Qatar. Libya’s media scene could not be more uneven and complicated than under Qaddafi a few years prior. Confessional transnational alliances translate into a highly disaggregated identity-based media system in Iraq that reflects a fragmented country. Syrian media is more diverse than prior to the uprising-turned-civil war. Ba‘thist regime media are no longer the only provider of “truth” to audiences, but rather old and new regional satellites (including off-site and clandestine broadcasters) with competing interests and divergent allegiances offer conflicting views of the country’s conflict.