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Sectarianism Dominates Mideast Media Coverage of Syria, Bahrain

A close look at Middle Eastern media reveals a sectarian bias for regional audiences and a more democratic face when broadcasting in English to the West.
A Syrian refugee watches a television broadcast of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad speaking in Damascus, in their container at the Al-Zaatari refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, January 6, 2013. Assad made his first public appearance in months on Sunday, calling for a "full national mobilisation" to fight against rebels he described as al Qaeda terrorists.      REUTERS/Majed Jaber (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3C5EE
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The sectarian conflict in the Middle East is not just what we witness in the battlefronts. There is also a battlefield behind the scenes, in the media and entertainment industries. Although the battle of sectarian media has been rising the last two decades, the civil war in Syria has brought tensions to a new height.

The regional media battle is being waged by Iran, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which tend to have similar patterns in both news coverage and historical/religious entertainment, albeit skewed by their own religious identities.

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