BEIRUT — An important aspect of the Arab mass media, especially satellite television, that has not been sufficiently assessed is its power to deliberately mobilize masses in order to achieve political objectives. The best example of this has been Future Television’s role in fostering mass street action and political change in Lebanon.
Future Television (FTV), run by the Hariri family and its political interests, has played the leading role in the political developments in Lebanon in the 11 months since the murders of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and the few dozen other public figures and innocent bystanders. Its broadcasts have included non-stop political reports, analysis, debates and opinions. These have been wrapped in a powerful, emotional package of graphics, content and continuity that deliberately sought to bring out people into the streets for political action.
It succeeded, probably beyond its own expectations, resulting in the Syrian army leaving Lebanon, the arrest and indictment of top Lebanese security officers, a newly elected parliamentary majority, and the UN’s launching of an international investigation into the Hariri murder. FTV’s senior management has now analyzed its own role in the massive, sustained popular political mobilizations that changed Lebanon last winter and spring. Its important conclusions clarify two political phenomena that we should expect to witness in the Arab world in the months and years ahead: the continued development of mass media, and the sentiments of angry citizens that will be increasingly channeled through the media.
I learned more about this when I spoke recently with the chief executive officer of FTV, Tarek Aintrazy, during a media-related conference in Dubai, where he made a presentation on FTV’s broadcasting in 2005. His views are important for what they tell us about the media’s performance and impact in a moment of political emotionalism and change, but also for their implications for mass media in other Arab countries.
Aintrazy believes that the activist, engaged media, especially FTV and An-Nahar newspaper, were key reasons why mass mobilizations succeeded in changing the Lebanese security regime, a transformation that he equates with the toppling of the Soviet Union 15 years ago.
He notes that television played a key role for four main reasons:
* It is the only truly mass medium that has almost 100 percent penetration of households;
* its impact is not hurt by the relatively high illiteracy rate in parts of the Arab world;
* it converges well with the tendency of many Arabs to be politically subdued and laid-back, preferring to receive information without making an effort to seek it out; and,
* television has unmatched abilities to communicate human emotions, if it chooses to do so.
He says that “Al-Jazeera and other satellite stations opened a platform for ordinary Arab people to talk and debate, but they did not call the people to action or try to mobilize citizens. Future Television and An-Nahar, mainly, deliberately called on people to act after the Hariri murder, and did so repeatedly, openly, all day long. It worked.”
A more thematic analysis of FTV’s impact during the months after the mid-February murder shows that its programming and tone passed through several successive stages, intriguing in themselves. At first the broadcasts “nationalized grief,” highlighting the trauma that impacted the entire country, showing the crime as directed at all of Lebanon and not just one family or party. Then it “personalized the loss,” making every viewer share the impact of the act and the loss. After that it built up a dynamic between “the personal and the political”, promoting individuals to translate their personal grief into political action. And finally it “mobilized the masses to march,” resulting in a million or more people on the street on March 14.
Such deliberate politicization of the media, however, comes at a cost, and Aintrazy lists four specific ones that FTV experienced. The station lost its objectivity, through due to a deliberate decision it made in order to fight the prevailing security regime, as it saw it. The station suffered a “wear-out effect,” as people tired after some time, and wanted to get back to a normal life. Commercial consequences included tens of millions of dollars of lost advertising, because advertisers generally do not want to be associated with political views and causes. The station also suffered more intolerance from the security forces, which it says included media-targeted direct threats, smear campaigns, assassinations, and several failed assassination attempts, leaving a residue of fear within the company.
This particular media experience in Lebanon in early 2005 was an isolated, particular development. Yet it will prompt others throughout the region — politicized citizens and security regimes alike — to absorb its lessons and react accordingly. I expect other Arab media companies to embark on this same path, moving from expressing political sentiments to mobilizing for political change, because people deprived of their right to engage in political life will find the vehicles that allow them to do so, in religion, media, tribalism, terrorism, or other forms.
Rami G. Khouri is editor-at-large of the Beirut-based Daily Star newspaper, published throughout the Middle East with the International Herald Tribune.
Copyright ©2006 Rami G. Khouri / Agence Global
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Released: 18 January 2006
Word Count: 827
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