ILA: Islam, Media & The West Blog

Reading everyone’s blogs, I think I came to some of the same conclusions everyone else did, that as a class, we have certainly progressed in terms of our knowledge of the Middle East. As a result, our opinions and views of the East have matured and developed. One of the purposes of this class was to combat the western misperception of the Middle East and Islam, and as the class progressed, our state of minds did as well. I was surprised to see the inundation of support for Middle East. There was an overwhelming amount of sympathizers who openly opposed the Western mindset. Understandably, this class has truly given us a new perspective of the Middle East, and applying the concepts and theories we’ve learned provides us with an entirely new lens to look at that area of the world through.
Additionally, on the most basic level, it was evident that everyone’s general knowledge of the Middle East grew a great deal. I noticed a lot of blogs in the beginning towards the first weeks of class posted their admission that they were completely uninformed about that area of the world, and chose to take this class to change this. As the semester progressed you could see this change in unawareness materialize itself in form of our blogs. People became well informed on the Palestine/Israel conflict, Dubai, cultural stigmas, and political happenings. Not only did we as a class become much more informed about the topic, our opinions matured with the help of professor, Edward Said and our own external research (apparently youtube was a big hit with that one).
As communications majors, we are considered media scholars, which is why I wasn’t surprised by the variety of mediums I saw on the blogs. Youtube was a popular favorite, but beyond that I was surprised to see music videos, movie trailers, poems, news articles, magazine articles, news pieces, etc. We came into this class with a broad understanding of media, and we were able to integrate our previous knowledge of the media world with our growing knowledge of the Middle East. Going through everyone’s blogs I came upon media outlets I wouldn’t even expect to be relevant to the class. No matter what, my classmates were able to make every example of media they chose to discuss pertinent to the class topic. Everyone’s blog entries were concise and thoughtful, using media examples to relate to the class topic, and integrating their informed opinions into many of the entries.
I think throughout the semester we have grown a lot not only as students, but as human beings living in a Western society. The general consensus seems to be that now that we are truly informed on the matter, it’s our job to combat any misinformed or skewed perceptions of the East. We must help propagate the notion that we have to learn to understand Eastern culture instead of clashing with it. If we take a deeper look we realize we aren’t all so different. Great job on the blogs everyone; I enjoyed reading each of them and was impressed by the caliber of content in each one.

(HAD TO REPOST LATE BECAUSE WHEN I TRIED TO DOWNLOAD THE ORIGINAL LINK TO MY PAPER BELOW, IT LOADED VERY WEIRD)

ABSTRACT

This report will attempt to examine the history of Arab TV in respect to its transformation prior to and subsequent to the Gulf War and the advent of satellite TV. After the shift towards private ownership, Arab TV took a step towards modernity by adopting the values and practices of globalization. Soon, Eastern media became saturated with Western values and trends while still attempting to maintain an Islamic identity. Western opposition to Arab media’s allegedly biased misrepresentations of the West led to U.S. involvement, which ultimately manifested itself in the form of a poorly planned media operation. Alternatively, America should have considered a more insightful and rational way of understand Arab media.

STRUCTURE
Ownership in Terms of Government/State Control
Arab television ownership structure can be better understood through a pre and post 1990 lens. Before 1990, Arab television was primarily run by colonialist government powers; content was meticulously monitored and controlled. Post 1990, there was a shift towards private ownership as the Gulf War called for a media reform that would grant Arabs a greater range of content.
• Before 1990, the Arab world could be classified into two groups:
o Those that were under strict control: Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Libya, South Yemen, and Sudan. The government acknowledged technology’s value for political communication and propaganda. They saw the media as means to extend the government into peoples homes.
o Loyalist countries include, Morrocco, Tunisia, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Oman, and North Yemen. They remained under government control but their governments didn’t see a need to pursue media regulation as aggressively as countries under strict control did.
• In 1990 the emergence of the satellite occurred, which was described as a “new style in news coverage and political discussion programs” (Rugh 201). There were satellites as early as 1985, but they became more efficient and affordable in 1990, as the possibility of a shared satellite between multiple houses became plausible.
• Content became more liberal and pervasive, political discussions that were previously forbidden by strict government control and seen only on Western broadcasts became widespread.
• Media began to extend to a pan-Arab reach, meaning an audience was no longer confined to only their local news broadcast. Suddenly, they were given access to a diverse array of Arab programming.
• Terrestrial broadcasting was affected by the introduction of privately owned satellite channels; their approach to programming had to be altered. Their perspective became more pan-Arab as opposed to strictly regional to keep up with the widespread reach of satellite TV.
• In 1995 Qatar abolished media censorship by creating the General Association for Radio and Television to “supervise the government owned terrestrial broadcasting facilities” (Rugh 205).
• In 1999, Emirates Media Incorporated, a media group in the UAE, became free from government control, thus becoming independent. The EMI now has “administrative structure based upon transparency, effectiveness, and flexibility…(which) has permitted it to move towards privatization and to rely increasingly upon the revenues it raises itself” (Rugh 205).
• During the Gulf War, many Arabs realized the potential that lay within Satellite TV. It introduced the possibility of a greater range of political and commercial content, and the impact it could make.
• Egyptians were the first to have satellite TV, but in 1991 the Middle East Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), headquartered in London and owned by a Saudi entrepreneurs became the forerunners in satellite news channels. Many followed suit as other satellite news channels such as Al Jazeera, ANN, and Al-Arabya made their debut into Eastern media.
• The induction of all these emerging satellite channels inevitably created competition in the marketplace.

Competition
With the emergence of Satellite channels, (Al-Jazeera in particular) and their subsequent success in Arab countries, competitors were bound to materialize. As the popularity of satellite TV grew, so did the desire for more content and choices. Complying with public demand, TV stations capitalized on this growing trend as more and more satellite news channels emerged, each one promising to be better than the next. On a more international scale, Western media noticed not only the growing popularity of aforementioned news channels, but also presumed that these Eastern news outlets were propagating anti-Western values and opinions. “Accustomed to dominating the discourse, the U.S. was now forced to adjust to the fact that a new, largely unfettered media voice was drowning out White House attempts to write the storyline of its war on terror” (Pintak 167). Part of America’s solution to this global competition was the induction of their own Al-Jazeera, Al-Hurra, “a satellite broadcaster whose mission was to communicate accurate, balanced and objective news – particularly about American policy – directly to the Arab viewer without the filter of Arab media” (Pintak 258).
American 167

Commercialism/Advertising
Commercialism and advertising are a product of the fast paced progression of an ever-changing media. With TV popularity at an all time high, Arab television channels are forced to concede to global trends in the marketplace. The popularity of television during Ramadan has brought about lucrative advertising opportunities. “The cost of advertising in this period as well as the number of advertisement rises dramatically. Ramadan 1999 alone netted 23 percent of the $153.2 million in annual television expenditure in Egypt” (Hammond 23). The commercialization of television and media paves the way for emerging global trends such as advertising.

PROGRAMMATIC TRENDS
Game Shows/Reality TV
• Game Shows became an extremely popular trend in both the satellite and terrestrial realm.
• Many of the programs seen on Arab TV are based on prevalent American game shows. The Arab television networks adopted the basic framework of the show, while maintaining an Eastern image.
• The Arab version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire garnered overwhelming success which can be largely attributed to it’s sex symbol host, George Qerdahi.
• The show was wildly popular with housewives who no doubt spent their days at home fawning over the attractive host.
• Shows like The Weakest Link were criticized by Muslim fundamentalists who argued the host, Rita Khoury “behaved like a man and should be more feminine and polite” (Hammond 226).
• Likewise, reality TV in the East can attribute its influence to the popularity of reality TV in the West. Shows like Big Brother and Star Academy are the Arab equivalent to their western counterparts. Ironically, one of the most controversial shows, Al-Hawa-Sawa claims no external influence, but received some of the most criticism when “viewers suspected that three of the right girls from the around the Arab world were secretly smoking, thus flouting a ban on cigarettes and alcohol in the luxury apartment” (Hammond 228).
• It’s possible that reality TV has had a desensitizing effect on its viewers as it repeatedly depicts situations that contradict Islamic canons.
Ramadan Serials
• The shows that air during the month of Ramadan are wildly popular, but depict situations that are fundamentally in direct opposition of everything that month stands for and symbolizes.
• Ramadan is a month intended for religious introspection and veneration; its about sacrifice and self-discipline. These shows glorify the values Islam has vehemently rejected. “Commentators have seen in it a debasing of the religious meaning of the month, when Muslims fast from dawn to dusk, and a sign of how increasingly consumerist Arab societies have become” (Hammond 231).
• Could this be the influence of Western values? Or just the process of modernization/globalization?
• Shows like Tash ma Tash are blatantly “an occasion for Saudi television to promote liberal reforms and attack the powerful conservative religious establishment…with its depiction of Islamic extremist at a school for radical Islamists jokingly named the Terrorism Academy” (Hammond 232).
• These shows stand as evidence of the rapid commercialization occurring globally.
News
• News plays a significant role in the dissemination of media in the Arab world.
• The most prevalent news station is undoubtedly Al-Jazeera, a privately owned satellite news channel started in 1996 in Qatar.
• Al-Jazeera prides itself on its global reach and aggressive political coverage. Its unbiased content is due in large part to its detachment from any governmental ties.
• There are many regional competitors, but none have the global reach of Al-Jazeera (which was facilitated by the induction of their English speaking network, Al-Jazeera English)
• Arab news outlets are catching up to global trends and modernization

ANALYSIS OF US INVOLVEMENT
The emergence of pan-Arab satellite channels and the Eastern shift towards private ownership in the media obviously garnered the attention of the Western media. As Arab countries caught on quickly to growing media trends, the U.S. naturally did all they could to combat any anti-Western propaganda they believed to be prevalent in Eastern media. The U.S felt especially threatened and misrepresented by Al-Jazeera. President Bush stressed his concern that the Arabic news station was propagating anti-Western sentiments, “calling it a purveyor of propaganda that just isn’t right” (Pintak 1). “The president's statement, along with the decision by the New York Stock Exchange to ban Al Jazeera's reporters in 2003, is a prime example of how the Arab news media have been demonized since the 9/11 attacks” (Pintak 1). America has done very little to alleviate the tension between the East and the West. Instead, they invested 100 million dollars into developing, Al-Hurra, a television news channel that prides itself on providing “accurate” and “objective” news directly to the Arab people because they mistrust the way Arab media presents news about the west. This “plan” reveals itself to be incredibly backwards as it is attacking a news channel that is completely independent from the government; they’ve chosen to attack the one unbiased media outlet. Additionally, Al-Hurra operated at a standard way below valuable American media outlets. Perhaps instead of constantly being on the defensive, America should try and understand Arab culture and realize media is in no way defining of an entire society. Instead we are perpetuating a clashist mentality by setting two cultures further and further apart from one another.

WORKS CITED

Hammond, Andrew. Popular Culture in the Arab World.

Pintak, Lawrence, Jeremy Ginges and Nicholas Felton. The New York Times. New
York, N.Y.: May 25, 2008. pg. WK.12

Pintak, Lawrence. Reflections in a Bloodshot Lens: America, Islam, and the War of
Ideas.

Rugh, William. Arab Mass Media. “Arab Television Since 1990: Structure”.

Rugh, William. Arab Mass Media. “Arab Radio and Television Prior to 1990”.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/28/al-qaeda-to-us-overcome-e_n_146981.html
After viewing a compelling news story on CNN the other day, I located its corresponding article online. It's available at the above URL. The article addressed the current financial crisis were facing. The 80 minute segment on CNN featured Ayman al-Zawahri, Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader, who urged Americans to embrace Islam to help cope with our current financial crisis. Although the article was brief, it conveyed dramatically, the Eastern perspective of the American financial crisis.
He said it was a repercussion of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, and that the crisis would continue "as long as the foolish American policy of wading in Muslim blood continues" and attributed our economic downfall to "a downturn and loss of investor confidence in the market following the events of Sept. 11".
Just as we've read in Osama Bin Laden's speeches, this is another example of Eastern opposition to Western values; in particular, our obsession with progress and financial gain. It seems to Easterners, we've completely lost sight of any sense of value or tradition, and as a result our current financial crisis exists. Zawahri implores us to "embrace Islam to live a life free of greed, exploitation and forbidden wealth".

I'm sure a lot of us in this class have stumbled upon this article, but I thought I'd voice my opinion about it. It seems a growing trend during this financial crisis is packing up your bags and leaving. Not that I blame anyone for thinking its a good time make an exit...what with my impending graduation and the series of hiring freezes popping up everywhere. I find it kind of comical that America, the "land of opportunity", has its citizens literally fleeing the country and going East. We've spent years perceiving the East as sort of shrouded in mystery and lacking in modernity, and now a 24 year recent college graduate has discovered her best bet at becoming a fast millionaire is to move to Dubai. She goes on to say that it won't be difficult to find a great job there: “A blonde American girl? Are you kidding me?” The contractors and project managers she pitched made corny, adoring jokes about her Texan drawl and lavished her with attention". All these opportunities in a place thats just barely two years old. It's amazing the rate at which the economy is expanding over there. Ultimately we have to ask ourselves, as the article puts it "Is Dubai the best place to wait out the storm?" Should we trust that their booming economy wont suddenly crash like ours? Will their economy continue to thrive? Will the real estate market be just as lucrative in a few years time? I guess we have to weigh our options, it's a difficult time right now for the unemployed and sometimes your best bet is to take some risks.
http://nymag.com/news/features/52180/index2.html

I recently went to the movies and saw a preview for this movie, Waltz With Bashir:

It initially caught my intention because it reminded me so much of the content we've covered this semester. In particular the graphic novels, as the animated style of the film appears very comic book-like. The film is centered around the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre. From what I've read about it, the film seems to be about Folman, who served in the Israel Defense Forces in 1982. The film brings us to present day when Folman meets up with a friend who relays the horrors of his experiences in the Lebanese War of 1982. Folman however, fails to remember anything about this time, but begins to have vivid nightmares that help him unearth his experiences in the war. The movie follows him on his journey as he attempts to relive his memories; he enlists the help of many along the way.
I think its interesting how such a hard subject matter translates so seamlessly into an animated medium. You wouldn't think that something like war would be come across so powerful when its animated, but the animation gives it a very surreal and fantastical quality.

I was browsing the Al Jazeera English website to find any articles on some of the controversial television that was aired in the Middle East during the month of Ramadan. I stumbled upon an article from 2007 that talked about the heavily anticipated and controversial Egyptian television series, A Case of Public Opinion, in which "an Egyptian actor and former sex symbol, plays a prominent university professor who is one of three women violently raped while returning home from work". Rape has always been considered a taboo and delicate subject matter in the media. Rarely depicted in Western television, one has to wonder what effect it will have on the conservative, traditional Eastern societies.
The article speculates that perhaps there are subliminal purposes to these kinds of shows - that maybe depicting such controversial content is means of disseminating government agenda, with the intention of raising awareness about these issues.
"Many Egyptian women have stories, usually branded as "shameful" and "embarrassing", of public harassment and even outright sexual assault in public...a recent statistical study carried out by the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights revealed that 40 per cent of women have experienced sexual harassment". Perhaps the exposure of this statistic has acted as motivation for TV production staff and government agents alike to expose the existence of said injustices and reveal the resilience of women in the East, despite the preconceived notion that they are passive and helpless.
The article then goes on to say that the female lead in the television series could act as a "role model for many generations of women. She's not a sex-symbol anymore and her western attire gives a message that she's easier to approach." It's interesting to me that because she's depicted as more "western", she suddenly becomes more relatable, and more of a role model. To me, this seems fairly Orientalist.
As I touched on before, there is speculation that there is a hidden government agenda with these television shows in an attempt to raise awareness about pressing social issues.
A Damascus based editor poses the question: "Why do certain historical shows surface at certain times? Well, it could be an undertone of the contemporary state of politics". Another Cairo bases psychologist implores, "What would the government like more? If people criticise Ramadan television or [if they] criticise their policies and actions?". These scholars make a good point, the public can 1) be easily swayed by media rather than any sort of government interference and 2) the government would obvious rather shift criticism or blame off them and onto television stations. Although its clear these social issues need to be exposed to the public, one must question the ethics of their methods. This kind of subliminal exploitation seems sneaky and unconventional.
See full article at below link:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2007/09/2008525183635428655.html

By this point, we've all become familiar with the tragedy that occurred in Mumbai. And amid the chaos, "India’s home minister Shivraj Patil became the first high-profile political casualty of the terrorist attacks on Mumbai, offering his resignation on Sunday to take responsibility for the violence, which claimed at least 192 lives. As a result,"Palaniappan Chidambaram, India’s finance minister, will take over as home minister while...Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would temporarily take over the finance portfolio".
In an article I read recently "the move came amid growing recriminations against India’s government for its alleged laxity in tackling a wave of terrorist bombings that have swept most of the major cities, including the capital New Delhi and India’s Silicon Valley, Bangalore".
This tragedy comes close to paralleling the events of 9/11. With nearly 200 casualties its hard to ignore the similarities. Even though the casualties of 9/11 were in the thousands, its hard to ignore the similarities with attacks where the casualties reached over 100. In addition to native casualties, many of the victims were merely tourists on vacation. One news spot on CNN covered the escape of a British man who noted the urgency of the situation as soon as he saw fire and escaped through the fire escape.
Having finally called an official end to the tragedy on Saturday, you cant help but wonder how the country is going to bounce back from an attack like this. Will their actions be similar to Americans, post 9/11? Will India bond together in an act of solidarity to overcome the tragedy? Will this encourage Indian officials to mend relations with Pakistan or create a resentful relationship between the two countries. Its hard to say when emotions are at an all time high. The article speculates that "elements in Pakistan were responsible for the violence and fueling rising tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad".
How will Mumbai recover from this? Will they come together as Americans did and create an internal support system to help mend their grief?
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e1ccc782-bd7e-11dd-bba1-0000779fd18c.html

The above videos are trailers for the upcoming mini series, House of Saddam. The series aired on the BBC a year ago, but will be airing on American TV for the first time on HBO. As the press release states, the mini series "...offers a fresh perspective on the dictator, his relationships and his actions behind closed doors, by retelling events from inside the very heart of the regime...it follows the impact of his political ambitions on his oldest advisors, closest friends, family members – and on Saddam himself. Within the walls of his opulent presidential palace respect is interwoven with fear as Saddam exerts control over his allies, his country and its people."
I think a lot of Americans, or Westerners in general are looking forward to getting a glimpse into the life of one of the most notorious leaders of Eastern civilization. This is unique in that political mini series are never uncommon for TV powerhouses like HBO pr BBC, but they tend to depict presidential figures or leaders from the West, never have I seen a television series on one of the most hated political figures of the 20th century. Additionally, I always find it interesting seeing what new series HBO puts out, a television channel that not only prides themselves on their groundbreaking and controversial content, but one that also can only be viewed by viewers by paying an extra monthly fee. Content has no censorial limitations, which is why such a controversial story is perfect for such a channel.
The first of the two videos I've posted is a short "teaser" for the mini series. It depicts Saddam and all those closest to him "melting" into a pool of blood - a very graphic and compelling image for TV. The tag line is "the downfall of a dynasty". The second video is more footage from the actual series. It seems they strive for authenticity, but can Western filmmakers ignore their Western values and opinions when tackling an extremely Eastern storyline? Will the story be obscured by an Orientalist lens? I look forward to seeing the series and finding out. Also, I'm wondering if a Western interpretation of Saddam will make him more hatable or likable. The fact that they are not just focusing on his radical political methods, but are also depicting his family and friends, the ones closest to him, makes me think that the viewers will be exposed to a Saddam they are not familiar with. Nothing like the one we've read about in the news. Writer, Alex Holmes describes it as "...a chance to examine the political and moral values at play in Iraq, values which gave rise to Saddam Hussein and which he in turn was hostage to. Values like loyalty, strength, honour and pride."

The youtube channel, AlJzeeraEnglish, is the youtube channel for the English language news channel headquartered in the Middle East. I'm a pretty frequenter youtuber, and typically when encountering a new channel, I like to find the "most viewed" video to get an idea of what the channel is like. In this case, the most viewed video is entitled "Misconceptions of Obama fuel Republican Campaign". Although initially this seems totally irrelevant to the focus of our class, after watching it, you see the influence of Western stereotypes regarding the East. Being that my entire family is from rural Ohio, I know first hand that it it can be a relatively conservative state, with a pretty limited knowledge of life outside the U.S.
It seems the general consensus according to this video is that Barack Obama is Muslim. As one woman states Obama could never be president because "he's not a Christian, this is a Christian nation. What is our country gonna end up like?" Il-informed voters are associating Obama with Islam because his father was Muslim and he was educated at a Muslim school for a short period of time. The fact that voters would judge our presidential nominees on the basis of religion is ridiculous, in a nation where the separation of church and state is instated, a nominees policies and promises should precede religion. Besides that, people are overlooking his policies as they are blinded by his race and what they perceive to be his religion. Additionally, based on the fact that they consider him Muslim, they believe him to be "anti-American" and against white people." Il-informed Westerners jump to the conclusion that Islam is associated with terrorism, despite the fact that it is a peace-loving religion. Again, we see Western sterotypes of the East emerge in the media.
One democrat from Ohio voiced his concern: "I've been called the n-word, I've been called a Muslim, I've been called un-American" all because hes one of the pro-Obama democratic minority in a conservative area of Ohio.