and you think we’ve got problems with our MSM?

In Lebanon, there are six licensed television stations—one that speaks for Maronite Christians, one for Sunni Muslims, one for Shia who don’t belong to Hezbollah, Al Manar (HezbollahTV), a communist station, and the government-backed station. Here’s how they report:

Because of the high degree of politicization of Lebanese society, current political events are covered in a way that supports the views of each television station with no respect for professional codes and ethics. An early published version of the report by the UN international commission to investigate the assassination of Rafiq Hariri noted that “certain Lebanese media had the unfortunate and constant tendency to spread rumors, nurture speculation, offer information as facts without prior checking and at times use materials obtained under dubious circumstances from sources that had been briefed by the Commission, thereby creating distress and anxiety among the public at large.”

Sounds like great infotainment!

Read the whole article—it’s fascinating. Among the tidbits I learned:

Television dominates the flow of information in Lebanon. According to recent figures by an authoritative study, about 65 percent of Lebanese adults view two to four hours per day, and about 82 percent of the population views television on a daily basis, …

In 2003, terrestrial television penetration was at approximately 99 percent of all households. Cable television penetration is among the highest in the world, and is estimated to be as high as 79 percent of all households.