Media in the 21st Century:
New Media, New Voices
Developments such as satellite TV and the Internet have allowed local groups to
develop a voice that they never had before, no matter how strictly local governments
may control media access. For instance, before around 1990, the West heard a single,
monolithic Arab “opinion” on everything from Israel to Islam, even though there were
18 predominantly Arab countries stretching from Morocco to Iraq, with people from
all ethnic groups, social classes, religions, and political persuasions. Minority opinions
were censored. Now they are talking, and through approved channels. And their voices
are fragmented. For instance, among Morocco’s 15 online newspapers and news web-
sites are the progressive feminist Femmes du Maroc(published in French) and the
socialistLibération. Saudi Arabia forbids its citizens from publishing or accessing any
information that disagrees with official policy, but there are hundreds of clandestine
groups, including over 500 on Yahoo.com.
Al Jazeera, an independent television network based in Qatar (on the Persian Gulf),
is one of the most popular media sites in the world, with several specialized channels
devoted to sports, music, and children’s programs and over 50 million regular view-
ers (it is available in the United States via satellite). Its main claim to infamy is its ded-
ication to presenting alternatives to official policies of the Arab world. Several Arab
countries have claimed that the network is too pro-Israel or pro-U.S. On the other hand,
after the 9/11 attacks, when Al Jazeera broadcast statements from Osama bin Laden,
many Westerners claimed that it was merely a front for terrorists. Journalists have had
their credentials revoked in both Arab and Western countries, and when an English-
language version of its website premiered in 2003, hackers immediately rerouted vis-
itors to a picture of an American flag (Lynch, 2005; Rugh, 2004)
New media today are helping other cultures to preserve and help “alternative”
voices to be heard. In the United Kingdom, for example, Sianel Pedwar Cymru, the
Welsh fourth channel, is helping to support Welsh language and culture. In Mex-
ico, the Zapatistas movement was able to bypass established media to communi-
cate with the world via the Internet. Broadcasting among the Bedouin tribes of the
Sahara has helped revive a sense of collective identity (Abu-Lughod, 1989; Williams,
2001).
In 2005, two new television networks were launched, each with a different
approach to the same goal: bringing alternative voices to the public. One is Indepen-
dent World Television (IWT), the brainchild of Canadian documentary filmmaker Paul
Jay. IWT seeks to be an independent voice, free of corporate control over editorial
content. The network is to be financed by Jay and other contributors and will allow
no corporate ownership, underwriting, or advertising.
Telesur (“Telesouth”) is a homegrown Latin American television network that seeks
to challenge Western media dominance and present a Latin American perspective to
Latin American viewers. The new network is being financed mainly by Venezuela, which
is footing 51 percent of the bill. But Telesur is also being supported by the governments
of Uruguay (10 percent), Cuba (19 percent), and Argentina (20 percent).
Some are calling Telesur “the Latin American Al Jazeera.” Others say it will be
little more than a mouthpiece for the governments that are paying its bills (Adams,
2005). A sociological perspective would suggest that both are true. Sociologists might
be concerned about government control but fascinated by the idea of people speak-
ing for themselves.
I sometimes show excerpts of old TV programs or films in my classes. They’re short,
they require little background information, and they illustrate whatever sociological
MEDIA IN THE 21ST CENTURY: NEW MEDIA, NEW VOICES 613