Major Explosions in the Middle East
Not car bombs this time, but the permanent incursion of Arab-language news into a Middle East that has always been news-starved and media-abusive. Al-Arabiya, joining al-Jazeera, each of them (relatively) new satellite and print media institutions, confirms a tendency toward open-ended information in a part of the world where what was going on was historically the most closely guarded of secrets.
Open-ended may not particularly mean absolutely accurate, without prejudice or certain subtle pressures of Arab governments, but what Western press or TV agencies can make that claim either?
According to Anthony Shadid, in a Washington Post article from May 1st of this year,
Nabil Khatib, the top guy at al-Arabiya, says ‘his ideal and mission for coverage is to report information so that viewers can form their own opinions. Compared with traditional news outlets in the Arab world, he says, "We are trying to redefine the news.’"
Just as the West is getting accustomed to al-Jazeera, with its Arab t…