Are Lebanon's media fanning the flames of sectarianism?
"Politics have become so divisive in Lebanon that the national media council chief urged the media in January to curb "tense rhetoric" that could instigate violence among the country's religious sects [...].So what are the media up to?Are they guilty of fanning the flames?"
"Media were at the forefront of Lebanon’s bloodiest infighting since the civil war,relaying the heated words of politicians while beaming out propaganda thick and fast [...]"
"As with the country’s political system, the Lebanese media has long been regarded as a unique phenomenon in the Middle East. Reflecting the pluralism and diversity of Lebanese society, the country’s media sector has enjoyed relative freedom of the press and was privatized early in its history. Yet despite, its apparent pluralism, “the disorientation and fragmentation” of the media system, as described by media scholar Nabil Dajani, has often served the interests of the political elite instead of catering to the public."
El Richani, Sarah (2011): The Lebanese Media Landscape.
Imagining Identities: Television Advertising and the Reconciliation of the Lebanese Conflict.
"Assem Nasr discusses how in Lebanon, the Arab country where identity is most contested, advertisers have constructed a new cosmopolitan and sterilized identity that transcends the ideological and religious differences prevalent in the real world."
Nasser, Assem (2010): Imagining Identities: Television Advertising and the Reconciliation of the Lebanese Conflict. In: ARAB MEDIA SOCIETY No. 10, Spring