Sakr, N. 2022. Media Governance as Diagnostic Lens to Probe Hidden Dimensions of Authoritarian Decision-Making in the Arab Middle East. in: Ganter, S.A. and Badr, H. (ed.) Media Governance: A Cosmopolitan Critique Basingstoke Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 39-57
| Chapter title | Media Governance as Diagnostic Lens to Probe Hidden Dimensions of Authoritarian Decision-Making in the Arab Middle East |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sakr, N. |
| Editors | Ganter, S.A. and Badr, H. |
| Abstract | Theories about media governance are not prominent in Middle East studies, no doubt partly because of contradictions between the complex, autonomous and diverse subsystems addressed by the wider notion of governance on the one hand and the highly controlled and centralised political systems of the Middle East on the other. Yet informal regulatory mechanisms and practices form common ground between governance theory and observable processes affecting Arab media. This chapter presents two case studies of media regulatory outcomes that illustrate the extent to which informal mechanisms and roles dispersed across borders are geared to serving the interests of ruling elites in countries that score very poorly in international rankings of media freedom. Through process tracing, based on evidence from new agencies, journalistic investigations and international bodies, the chapter identifies the players and decision-making behind silences and inaction that allowed international laws on copyright to be flouted with impunity for three years against a broadcasting group that had paid large sums to air major international sporting events, with collateral damage sustained by sporting bodies and Hollywood studios. It also exposes the mostly unacknowledged roles and mechanisms at work behind the hacking and blocking of social media accounts held by individuals and groups in Arab countries, including local media centres and human rights activists. The examples indicate the extent of the challenge posed by media regulation under authoritarianism, which can be better understood through analysing silences, apparent inaction and non-transparent processes of coercion and intimidation linking dispersed state and non-state players, often across borders. |
| Keywords | informal mechanisms, regulation, policy silences, coercion |
| Book title | Media Governance: A Cosmopolitan Critique |
| Page range | 39-57 |
| Year | 2022 |
| Publisher | Palgrave Macmillan |
| Publication dates | |
| Published | 01 Dec 2022 |
| Place of publication | Basingstoke |
| ISBN | 9783031050190 |
| 9783031050206 | |
| Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05020-6_3 |