Now we’re seeing it. This piece from MEMRI makes for encouraging reading. It’s a piece of withering criticism of the Arab media by the editor-in-chief of the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed. Maybe the Arab populations will realize that their media simply spews lies and begin demanding greater accuracy and accountability. Money quote:
I know that adopting an impartial stand in the [Arab] media world is akin to suicide, because there are many who push the media into extremes, and take ‘nationalistic’ positions, and maintain that whoever thinks differently is committing treason against the [national] cause. [They maintain] that lying for the sake of the cause is moral and honorable. The Arab media [of today], in these hard times, is slowly turning into the 1967 media; at that time, radio announcers, analysts, and journalists exaggerated acts of courage and covered up defeats, which – historically – became a mockery… The Arab media today, with its clear inclination towards exaggerations and false promises of victory, is feeding the public stories that have nothing to do with the real events in the field. Hence, it is replicating the old media, despite the fact that it is broadcasting in color and using electronic technologies …
And so the effort for a real change begins.
The Dish 