Arab State Broadcasting Systems in Transition: The Promise of the Public Service Broadcasting Model

In an Arab region entangled in global political, economic, social, and technological transformations, it seems natural to see traditionally paternalistic state broadcasting systems going through transitions. It has been noted that in Arab countries where social and political reforms are highly visible, radio and television services have been most cognizant of the need to adapt to surrounding change. Yet, in the long run, if government broadcasters are perceived to evolve along a path most compatible with envisioned democratization trends, it is public service rather than commercial broadcasting that holds the promise for that democratic vision. State broadcasters share significant features with their public service counterparts when it comes to service universality, funding, social and cultural empowerment, and public interest orientations. It is true that state broad casters in Arab countries with a progressive democratic history have demonstrated a propensity to be more inclusive and pluralistic in addressing national political and cultural issues. But all in all, their institutional affiliation with the state has been highly inhibitive for the pursuit of independence in news and current affairs, documentaries, and religious and cultural content. To bring themselves into closer alignment with the PSB model, state broadcasters need to harness ongoing social and political reforms to address four central issues arising out of their relation ship with government: editorial independence, institutional autonomy, non-state broadcast competition, and program enhancement. The writer notes that those issues have been occasionally addressed in the contexts of new audio-visual laws, broadcast restructurings, state-commercial broadcasting co-existence, and professional and technological development. The writer concludes that only an institution of genuine democratic political, social, and economic reforms in the region would secure state broadcasters' transition into the PSB model.(Product of workshop no. 13 at the MRM 2008

Komunikologija v arabskem svetu: nova perspektiva

"Pogled na svet" ki v različnih kulturah bistveno določa komuniciranje, v arabsko-islamskem svetu izhaja iz posvetnih in verskih tem kot so dostojanstvo, čast, očetovstvo, vera, molitev, znanje in skupnost. Avtor domneva, da bi bilo mogoče arabsko pojmovanje komuniciranja bolje razumeti s pomočjo naslednjih dihotomij: individualizem-konformnost, transcendentalnost-eksistencialnost, racionalnost-intuicija in egalitarnost-hierarhičnost. Na uvajanje proučevanja medijev v arabskih deželah je močno zaznamoval zlasti ameriški vpliv na vsebino, uporabo medijev in percepcijo učinkov komuniciranja

Onkraj zahodno usmerjenih komunikacijskih teorij: normativna arabsko-islamska perspektiva

For many decades, communication as a theoretical field of study has been dominated by Western-oriented perspectives that arose in the context of media perceptions in Western Europe and North America. Western communication theories have been promoted around the world as possessing a strong element of universalism. In recent years, this approach has been challenged on the basis of obfuscating the cultural peculiarities of non-Western societies as significant components of communication theorization. In this article, the author presents a normative Arab-Islamic perspective as a basis for future communication theory building in the Arab-Islamic context. Drawing on the notion of "Worldview," the Arab-Islamic perspective identifies four antithetical conceptual constructs that bear on the nature of communication: individualism-conformity, transcendentalism-existentialism, intuitive-rationalprocesses, and egalitarianism-hierarchy. The author concludes that Arab-Islamic communication patterns are formalistic, indirect, hyperbolic, asymmetrical, metaphysical and orally biased.Desetletja v komunikacijskih študijah prevladujejo zahodno usmerjene perspektive, ki so se razvile v Zahodni Evropi in Severni Ameriki. Zahodne teorije komuniciranja so v svetu propagirane s poudarjanjem elementa univerzalizma. V zadnjih letih je ta pristop kritiziran zaradi zanemarjanja kulturnih specifičnosti ne-zahodnih družb kot pomembnih razsežnosti komunikacijskih teorij. V članku avtor predstavlja normativno arabsko-islamsko perspektivo kot temelj bodoče teorije komuniciranja, ki bi izhajala iz arabsko-islamskega konteksta. V navezavi na pojem "svetovni nazor" arabsko-islamska perspektiva identificira štiri antitetične pojme, ki zadevajo naravo komuniciranja: individualizem - konformnost, transcendentalizem - eksistencializem, intuitivni - racionalni procesi ter egalitarizem - hierarhičnost. Avtor zaključuje, da so arabsko-islamski vzorci komuniciranja formalizirani, posredni, hiperbolični, asimetrični, metafizični in oralno usmerjeni

Od "mnogo glasov, en svet" do "mnogo svetov, en glas"

Since its publication in October 1980 by UNESCO\u27s International Commission forthe Study of Communication Problems, the MacBride Report has spawned heated discussions on issues relating to cross-border media flows, professional norms and ethics, communications technologies, and the role of media in social transformation. In this article, the writer argues that political, economic and cultural transformations in the global arena over the past 15 years have given rise to new realities that seem antithetical to the MacBride legacy of "many voices and one world." It has been noted that growing U.S. domination of world political and economic developments has had adverse effects on a range of communication issues like diversity, cultural identity, sovereignty and the right to communicate. However, the writer draws on current globalisation literature to argue that while the world seems to be converging on a globalised American-style model of political, cultural and economic evolution, forces of indigenous cultural expressions embedded in non-Western communities will always make a difference in the emerging communication landscape.Od objave v oktobru 1980 je poročilo MacBridove komisije sprožalo vroče razprave o zadevah, povezanih s čezmejnimi medijskimi tokovi, profesionalnimi normami in etikami, komunikacijskimi tehnologijami in vlogo medijev v družbenih spremembah. V članku avtor dokazuje, da so globalne politične, ekonomske in kulturne spremembe v zadnjih 15 letih prinesle nove značilnosti, ki so v nasprotju z MacBridovo dediščino "mnogih glasov in enega sveta". Povečevanje dominacije ZDA v svetovnem političnem in ekonomskem razvoju je imelo neugodne posledice na vrsto komunikacijskih zadev kot npr. raznovrstnost, kulturno identiteto, suverenost in pravico do komuniciranja. Z opiranjem na sodobno literaturo o globalizaciji avtor dokazuje, da bodo sile domačega kulturnega izražanja v ne-zahodnih skupnostih kljub videzu, da se svet zbližuje v globaliziranem modelu politične, kulturne in ekonomske evolucije po ameriškem zgledu, vedno ohranjale razliko v oblikovanju komunikacijske krajine

Editorial : dynamics of development in Arab broadcasting

(Product of workshop no. 13 at the MRM 2008