Comparative Media Policies Between Israel, and the Arab Regions of Egypt, Turkey and Qatar

Abstract

Every country has its own policies guarding the operation of its mass media. No media operates in a vacuum. Being the fourth estate of the realm, the mass media deserves to be given a free hand to enable it function effectively as the watchdog of the society. During the days of yellow journalism, so many unethical practices were adopted by media professionals in their bid to edge out their competitors. This has called for the need to closely monitor the media to ensure that they do not mislead the general public while trying to make profit. In trying to monitor the excesses of the media, it is also out of place to place restrictions that will prevent them from functioning effectively. The Arab regions and Israel continue to attract a lot of media attention.  This study is a comparative study of the media policies in Israel, Egypt, Turkey and Qatar. The study explores the history of the political terrain of the countries under study and ties these histories to the nature of operations of the media in these countries. The Authoritarian Theory and the Libertarian Theory are the supporting theories for the study. The study relies on researches conducted in the past on press freedom, new media and ownership and control by scholars and media organisations to draw out its comparison.

Keywords: Comparative Media Policies, Israel, Arab Regions