Ever since the boom of globalization and the media industry started growing bigger and wider. To start off, initiating a media conglomerate requires a huge capital and a governmental license. Therefore, whoever would like to start his own company must be rich and have a lot of connections, often with the ruling class. That is the case in the Middle East region as the so-called ‘Media Giants’ are mostly funded by the Gulf capital, owned by the ruling elite, and is closely censored by the governments of the Gulf. That is why the media industry cannot, but be related to politics. Nothing that defies the governments beliefs, values or policies, is allowed to be aired on any of the media companies in the region. In sum, most of the companies are related to the ruling elite, governmental members or some rich people that have good connections and that’s what capitalistic media is. “Those who own the means of production, have control over the means of mental production” (Karl Marx, 1848) which in this case is the media.
When applying the latter on Lebanon we will find that after the Taif accord in the 1990s, private television broadcasting licenses were given on the basis of equal representation of all sects in the Lebanese media. As a result, the Lebanese media industry was controlled by post-war leaders and today is ruled by ex-warlords and the new emerging class o f business men with major political affiliations.
As for the term ‘militainment’, it is taking advantage of the occurrence of wars or military fights via commercializing and advertising on Televisions shows. This occurs by attracting more viewers and thus more profit. Also it can increase sells for the private benefits that the owners want to obtain by attracting viewers.
References:
- Khiabany, G. (2016). The Middle East. In: B. Birkinbine; G. Rodrigi and J. Wasko (eds.) Global Media Giants. New York: Routledge. Retrieved from: http://research.gold.ac.uk/18559/1/The%20Middle%20East.pdf
- Andersen, R., and Mirrlees, T. (2014). Introduction: Media, Technology, and the Culture of Militarism: Watching, Playing and Resisting the War Society. Democratic Communiqué, 26(2): 1-21. Retrieved from: http://journals.fcla.edu/demcom/article/view/83940/80844
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