Media Policy in the MENA: The Political Impact of Media Confluence
Résumé
The historical overview of media policies in most MENA countries leads to a twofold observation: the "arbitrary regulation" of the media by ruling regimes; and paradoxically - a liberation of citizens from state media narratives. Media capture by policy makers, control by economic means, surveillance of digital media, blocking of websites and arbitrary closure of media outlets result in a rather strange media landscape in 2022. In these homogeneous, self-censoring media landscapes, acts of insubordination appear as real media events. However, non-state-controlled mediatization of social issues is sometimes possible thanks to "media confluence": events, reported or filmed by journalists or even ordinary citizens, that make their way onto different types of media.