Media in the Arab World

Al-Jazeera is an independent news network functioning from Qatar , which has been steadily gaining attention since its inception in 1996 . The network has been fairly controversial in its choice of s and very unconventional as well which would explain why more Arabs and Westerners alike gravitate to it for information about the current state of the Middle East . It first became popular when the network acquired a videotape containing Osama bin Laden 's message regarding the 9 /11 terrorist act . In the subsequent months , Al-Jazeera became the exclusive recipient of what came

to be a series of bin Laden 's messages

Al-Jazeera is characterized by its bold actions of bringing to the public issues that were previously considered sensitive or even taboo to be discussed on-air . Some of these s include politics , corruption terrorism , issues on gender and sexuality , religion and family values Previously , societal dictates make discussions about s like these only possible behind closed doors , never for the public audience Because of the strict censorship that Arab governments have of the media , it has been pretty hard to come up with or relate an accurate and objective of what 's happening in the Middle East but fortunately , the network Al-Jazeera changed all that

So what are its impacts to the known world ? For one thing , Al-Jazeera served as one wake-up call to the Arab world . If before , the Middle East is left in the dark about things that concern them directly , it isn 't so now . Also Al-Jazeera encouraged a lot of Arabs to get involved with present issues regarding politics , security or even religion . Since Al-Jazeera began its popularity boom , its viewer 's frequency has been uncontested . People in the Middle East are as enthused now as we are when it comes to keeping up with all of the crucial happenings in the Middle East (El-Nawawy Mohammed , 2002

Their most popular program is called The Opposite Direction . With this , Al-Jazeera invites proponents of both sides to discuss a particular issue . The show is very popular that a lot of political officials and experts are willing to appear on it . This lively discussion sometimes turn into hot debates between opposing parties resulting in very controversial airings where guests walk off the stage or yell at each other at the top of their voices . Scenes that have been previously non-existent in Middle East television . Because they are independent , the Qatari government imposes little , if at all restrictions on the network . Another fact that contributes to its growing popularity no doubt (Mohammed el-Nawawy , 2002

Aside from impacting Arabs in the Middle East , Al-Jazeera has also established quite a name in the western world . Al-Jazeera effectively challenged the monopoly of western news networks like CNN and NBC on coverage about Middle East events , a change that most Arabs welcomed because accusations about western networks portraying them (Arabs ) in a bad light are numerous . Even within Middle East networks themselves as well as international ones , there is a recognition that Al-Jazeera...