Media and Politics in the Middle East and North Africa

Mass media are necessary for the public to interact with itself, and the government. In the MENA, there has been a significant concentration on the government speaking to/influencing the masses, which is very foreign to more democratic countries, such as ourselves. However, it is important to realize that we are not as dissimilar as we think. Our government still disperses mass media to citizens, and may simply be less direct. Additionally, we consume a larger variety of mass media – more diverse news sources, through countless different means. From cnn to fox news, from the radio to newspapers, we digest mass media every day.

My personal belief is that mass media do more bad than good. They disable original thought, and the ability to share it in the same extent as the media source, giving a news station far more power than the people. Mass media has also become extremely polarized, heavily dividing the entire population into black and while circles with no grey. They have also heavily impacted the health of entire nations. Sensationalism has increased an obsession with comparison: more people are suffering from eating disorders, anxiety, depression. The world has also fallen into mass consumerism, promoted by television stations constantly advertising products to “improve your life”, or become similar to an idolized teenager.

At this point, mass media is no longer about spreading fair, true information. It has become a means of controlling populations, and has resulted in extremism and rapidly declining physical and mental health. I hope that one day, mass media will return to a safer, more honest form of independent media, somewhere in between social media and mass media.