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7th December 2011

To what extent does the ruling family control the media?

The Arab Gulf States are general Islamic countries governed by the Islamic law (Shariah). The ruling family in most if not all of these Gulf States controls basically all aspects of the government including the media but not in its entirety.

There are national television stations whose content is controlled by the government. These though have been curtailed by the introduction of computers and social media (Sean 87). National television channels in the Gulf States have been used by the governments for political advancement and self defense (Al –Kasim 98). This phenomenon has been changing with time as more international media houses gains ground in the Gulf States. For instance, the introduction of Cable News Network (CNN) and Al Jazeera has enabled free flow of information that was non – existent some years back (Alterman 67). The introduction of internet has also in a way increased media freedom. People can now communicate freely in the Gulf States without fear of victimization. Despite this though, very few Gulf States have a completely transparent media system.

Media content is in most case infiltrated with content of the immediate ruler. Focus is given too much on the ruling family than on the emerging issues in the society. The prevalence of the media content on the ruling family significantly interferes with the media transparency (Boyd 34). This is the case in the six Gulf States which include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. The major reason underlying the significant influence on the media by the ruling families is the control of oil resources. The ruling families nationalized all the oil corporations and thus have enough money to exert any kind of influence.

If democracy as such is to be achieved entirely in the Gulf States, then something has to done regarding the freedom of the press as the two go hand in hand (Atton 56). Democracy cannot be achieved where individuals are denied to speak out.

Works cited

Alterman, John. New Media, New Politics? From Satellite Television to the Internet in the Arab

World.  Washington: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 1998. Print

Atton, C. “What is alternative journalism?” Journalism, 4 (3), (2003): 267-273.

Boyd, D. Broadcasting in the Arab World: A Survey of the Electronic Media in the Middle East. 

Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press, 1999.Print.

F. al –Kasim. The Opposite Direction: A program which challenged the face of Arab television.

(Ed), The Al Jazeera phenomenon: Critical perspectives on the new Arab media. Boulder,

CO: Paradigm Books, 2005. Print.

Sean, Foley. Globalization, Wars and Telecommunications Revolution in the Arab Gulf States:

Beyond Oil and Islam. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2010. Print.