DOHA: Lifting of media censorship in Arab Spring countries has boosted local channels which have stepped into the role Aljazeera had been playing in the region for years, according to a new book.
New Media in the Arab World: A study of 10 Arab and Muslim countries contains studies and articles by a group of prominent writers and intellectuals in the region and the West.
Edited by Barrie Gunter and Roger Dickinson, the book in English is published by Dar Al Sharq, in collaboration with Bloomsbury. The authors say Arab revolutions have heralded a healthy competition in the media sector in the region, with several local channels now covering news in detail.
Many viewers of Aljazeera are now switching over to these channels, they say. However, despite a decline in its popularity, Aljazeera remains to be the leading channel in the region, especially in terms of covering the Arab Spring countries.
The 10 countries covered by the book include Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, Iraq, Libya and Palestine. The authors include Dr Khalid Al Jabor, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Al Sharq daily, Professor Bari Gunter, Dr Roger Dickinson, Dr Ahmed Al Rawi, Dr Zaki Al Nashashibi, Dr Hamza Mohammad, Dr Mukhtar Al Arishi, Dr Ibrahim Al Sheikh and Dr Vincent Campbell.
Aljazeera’ rivals in the region include Al Arabia, Al Hur, BBC Arabic and Arabic editions of French, Russian and Chinese channels. Numerous international news channels, radio stations and websites have contributed to Arab revolutions, the book says, adding that Arab governments have lost their control over the media. Now they can censor only the state-owned radio and news channels that are reaching a very limited audience, according to the authors. The Peninsula
