Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kent, G.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Parliamentary Affairs Vol. 57 No. 1, 2004, 131-141
© Hansard Society for Parliamentary Government 2004; all rights reserved

Privacy and the Public Interest in the Middle East

Gregory Kent

This article examines the role of media intrusion in Middle Eastern politics and how the public/private dichotomy is useful in exploring the existent or not of press freedom around the region. Several examples from different countries are used to discuss how the various so-called ‘new’ and ‘small’ media have, together with certain tabloid newspapers, been in the vanguard of investigating into corruption and other matters of public interest previously considered by the political elites as ‘private’ and thus off limits. Consequently a culture of vaguely defined restriction on reporting combined with severe penalties for breach to it has helped create an inexorable pressure that many journalists often censor their own outputs, particularly with regard to stories featuring ruling royal families and heads of state. When combined with other societal pressures including those of a religious nature, the prospect for truly independent minded reporting into the roles of leading politician still seems remote.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.