Cairo Magazine - Too sexy for my satellite

It is something of a truism that the new Arab media–satellite channels, new private radios and websites—are having a dramatic impact on the region’s culture and politics. Transnational Broadcasting Studies (TBS), a biannual online academic journal that focuses on “satellite broadcasting in the Arab and Islamic World,” has been at the forefront of analyses of developments.

The journal (which shares several regular contributors with this magazine) is now being made-over with a greater focus on the content and consumption of satellite media and now, for the first time, there is a print edition of the journal.

TBS is more accessible than most academic journals. Contributors, in addition to well-known academics, also include journalists, broadcasters and even public personalities such as Amr Khaled, the popular Muslim tele-preacher. As if to underscore its intention to appeal to a popular market, TBS has put pouting pop starlet Ruby on its inaugural cover as part of a special on sex-laden Arabic music videos.

Apart from the appeal of the curvaceous, this is a serious topic. In addition to generating debate around the region, these videos also represent one of the most profitable niches in the industry. Walter Armbrust points out that “at any one time as many as a fifth of the free-to-air channels on Nilesat may be broadcasting video clips.” Armbrust goes on to explain that the constant stream of SMS messages streaming across music channels generate a tidy profit for broadcasters and mobile phone service providers.

The debate generated by the sexually provocative videos points to the larger problem of sexual frustration among many young Arabs, exposed to “Western” attitudes to sexuality (according to conservatives) that clash with a culture where marriage must precede sexual activity. Amr Khaled makes this point from an Islamist-cum-nationalist point of view, saying “Nowadays video clips comprise imported images superimposed on localized words with no meaning to them.” The preacher finds more at fault with the Western aesthetics of the format: “the way I see it is that the greatest scandal of current video clips is not that they arouse desire but that they pervert the aesthetic sense.”

Much of the rest of the current edition of the journal is dedicated to the debate over Al Hurra, the US-funded Arabic satellite channel, and its nemesis Al Jazeera. Lindsay Wise paints a critical but fair-minded picture of a still-developing channel that remains on the defensive in the region. One sensitive issue that is not raised despite its prominence among Al Hurra’s Arab critics is the perception that it is dominated by Lebanese Maronites who have added their own agenda to the channel’s mission to improve the US’ image in the region.

Several articles track the progression of Al Jazeera’s new ventures, notably the English-language Al Jazeera International that is expected to launch in March 2006. Contributor Jon Alterman believes this station could have a significant impact on its Arabic sister because of the immediate scrutiny it will encounter for any presumed bias.

The issues covered in the current issue of TBS are important as the Middle East, for the fifth year in a row, remains one of the top stories on our television screens. The journal’s print edition should help specialists and anyone else interested in regional affairs follow what is taking place behind the scenes in Arab broadcasting.