This is the text of the speech held by the author at the Doha International Conference, organised in Qatar by Reset Dialogues on Civilizations on February 26th 2008.

We now live in the age of information, surrounded by waves of events and data that swamp us, linking all the world in a sort of global network. Over recent years, this interaction has become even more extensive, connecting in a more complex way an unprecedented amount of users. The global media sphere has dramatically changed, both in terms of demand and supply, and the new media as well as traditional ones, such as television, have been renewed, in particular through satellite systems, reaching new significant segments of audience. This applies to international networks, starting with CNN and BBC, which have started to use new channels and foreign languages for communicating with developing markets.

Part of this trend is inexorably due to the birth of Arab satellite television stations, which over the last decade have opened new markets and new ways of making news at a global level. It is particularly interesting to observe how Arab television stations, born in an extremely authoritarian socio-political context, and not in line with the typical western tradition of freedom of expression, have been able at times to influence not only their own media system but even the global one. In reality, starting from an historical perspective, it is clear that ever since the beginning, at the time of the birth of traditional mass media, the Arab media was always characterized by a particular tendency initially towards regionalism and then globalism, hence growing with a capacity to hold a significant position, reaching far beyond their own national borders.

One should bear in mind the experience of Voice of the Arabs, an Egyptian radio station created under Nasser’s regime, created with the explicit intention of being a platform of cohesion for all Arab countries. The ASBU, the Arab Satellite Broadcasting Union, was created in 1969 as a form of regional cooperation, and, as the minutes of its first general assembly stated, its main goals were to “strengthening the Arab brotherhood and to contribute in the birth of a new generation of Arabs aware and proud of their pan Arab identity and (…) to diffuse at the global level the authentic image of the Arab nation”. Hence the transnational perspective was already very strong in the past decades, but only the introduction of the satellites across the region at the beginning of the Nineties breathed new life into this project, thanks to the creation the first real regional platform.

In a contradictory manner, the first satellite experiments reinforced the pan-Arab dimension, but, at the same time increased exchanges with western networks as well, in some respects importing foreign elements into the Arab system. As far as reporting was concerned, they introduced their first live reports and an internal organizational structure very similar to their western competitors, especially with the creation of their first bureaus all over the world. As far as entertainment is concerned, the programming became more modern thanks to new techniques and typical “English” contents, such as pop-music. The birth of Al-Jazeera in 1996 further reinvigorated this trend, providing a new and professional form of information, truly adopting the international standards of English journalism.

In a sense, the Qatari TV network brought even more innovation to the system, gradually also paying attention to events outside Arab borders, broadcasting also in Europe and United States in 1999. Then in 2006 it launched its innovative project with an international version of the channel so as to bring the Arab perspective to a truly global audience. By doing so, Al-Jazeera achieved its goal, one of establishing a real connection with a heterogeneous public such as the Arab one is. According to the Allied Media Corporation studies, this network reaches an average audience of 50 million viewers and with very high percentages in all the Arab countries. At least 44%, becoming a network that is so transnational to be recognized as the Arab voice in the global arena of information.

The effects of this phenomenon at a global level are immense. In addition to importantly creating one large Arab market, the Arab media has implicitly proved that every network can offer its viewers a different perspective of events, a certain worldview far beyond its own usual audience. That is why, before the launch of Al-Jazeera international, the US government and the BBG (Broadcasting Board of Governors), the federal agency responsible for international non-military broadcasting, launched in 2002 a radio station and in 2004 a television station in Arabic, Radio Sawa and Al-Hurra TV. Both these stations were launched for political reasons and not commercial ones. The American government was in the middle of the war on terror, and international broadcasting was part of a public diplomacy strategy for winning “the battle for Arab minds and hearts”. It was also an attempt to compete with Arab satellite television and also to improve the US government’s image in the region.

Partially for the same reasons, other countries have recently launched their own Arab channels, such as Deutsche Welle, France 24, Rusiya Al-Yaum and the Iranian government has also created its first English channel, Press TV. All these networks were invented for communicating with an emerging Arab audience, but also so as to present to the global media sphere their own worldview and perspective on events. This phenomenon seems to be part of a new concept of international dynamics, so-called ‘glocalism’, according to which regional links are stronger than in the past, and necessary for gaining a relevant position within the global dimension, thanks also to new technologies and languages. In some respects we are all spectators of a confrontation between civilizations, in which different socio-political realties tends to advertise themselves so as to win the “battle of images”, as former French President Jacques Chiraq defined it. CNN and BBC are also players in this game; they too have launched an Arabic versions in order to maintain their primate as the most famous international networks.

Generally speaking, the most important effects of this new trend are the fragmentation and increase in media supply, segmentation of the market thanks to new, ethnic, linguistic and global viewers. Consequently the influence over international journalism is immense. There are new sources of information, but also a renovated tendency toward sensationalism and spectacularization in addressing increased competition with the new networks. Moreover, borders between communication and politics are becoming increasingly weaker, and the media has a relevant and powerful position in diplomatic affairs, forcing governments to invest more money in instruments used for political communication.

In conclusion, we live in a media sphere that is far more complex and interconnected than in the past; and the question is whether this will end in a sort of global public sphere, facilitating dialogue between regional blocks, or if the exacerbated polarization of opposite worldviews will reinforce the so-called “war of ideas”.

Daniela Conte is a candidate for a Doctor’s Degree in Political Systems at the IMT in Lucca.