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In their Egypt coverage the Arab media – like the regimes they report on – have failed to move on from the old ways Faced with an event of Berlin Wall magnitude on its home turf, the Arab media is torn over the uprising in Egypt and how to report it, if at all. In the old days, the media’s role was not so much to report the news as to “guide” the public, shielding them from “harmful” information or anything that might inflame their passions. That ceased to be a viable option more than 20 years ago with the arrival of satellite television, especially al-Jazeera, and since then the internet has made it less viable still. And yet, large sections of the Arab media still persist in their hidebound ways. At the weekend, while al-Jazeera was providing minute-by-minute coverage of events in Tahrir Square (and generally doing it better than western news organisations), Egyptian state television was focusing its cameras on quieter parts of Cairo, including a tranquil bridge over the Nile. In Oman, ruled despotically by Sultan Qaboos for the last 40 years, it is much the same. The Oman Observer seems only interested in reporting government news from Egypt. On Sunday, its headline was “Mubarak picks vice-president” and on Tuesday it was “Egypt unveils new cabinet”. This morning, after yesterday’s dramatic events in Cairo, it ignores Egypt completely. In the same country, meanwhile, the Times of Oman has been playing a slightly straighter bat: “Egyptians seek million-strong march to oust Mubarak”. It even quoted a protester saying: “The only thing we will accept from him [Mubarak] is that he gets on a plane and leaves.” In the Palestinian territories, “Wafa News Agency had not a word about Egypt, as if nothing were happening”, according to the independent Maan News . “Palestine TV broadcast comedies as other stations aired footage of thousands in Cairo streets.” Obviously this makes them look silly and undermines their credibility with the public, who know what is going on from other sources. But they carry on in the old ways regardless, much like the Arab dictators themselves. As for the Palestinian newspapers, Maan News says: “Jerusalem-based newspaper al-Hayah al-Jadidah’s coverage of Egypt seemed to say ‘We swear to God we have nothing to do with what is going on in Egypt’ while al-Ayyam ran the front page with a large photo of Egyptian protests and a brief story saying ‘Egypt witnesses a state of chaos’.” “Chaos” has also been a major theme in Egypt’s government newspapers. After initially attempting denial – on the day after the first big protest al-Ahram came up with the now-notorious front-page headline : “Heated protests and calls for strikes in Lebanon” – they switched to scaremongering about chaos (even though the chaos was mainly caused by the regime’s response to the demonstrations and its efforts to shut down almost everything in sight). The Palestinians, however, have their own reasons for giving news from Egypt the kid-glove treatment. Maan News says: “Silence prevailed, from the Palestinian Authority, the government in Gaza, the factions and the people; all kept a safe distance from the Egyptian hot potato for fear that coming out on the wrong side would impact their future … “The shadow of former President Yasser Arafat’s strong support of Saddam Hussein when he invaded Kuwait still hangs long over Palestinian foreign policy. For Arafat’s support in the 1990s, Palestinians were expelled from the Gulf states, had properties seized and accounts frozen.” But Maan adds: “While official silence has become the norm, Palestinians are watching events closely. In every home, in every coffee house and in every shop, those stations covering the events in Egypt play ceaselessly.” Surprisingly, perhaps, sections of the Saudi media have been relatively open in their reporting of Egypt. They rely a lot on western news agencies – partly because of a lack of resources but also, probably, so that their own journalists can’t be blamed if something in the reports upsets the authorities. Saudi columnists have been discussing the situation in Egypt – and not without a measure of sympathy for the protesters. Tariq Alhomayed, writing in Asharq Alawsat , concedes: “The Egyptian protesters’ demands were legitimate at the start. ” Even so, given that Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy, journalists have to be careful not to imply criticism of the Saudi system and keep clear of direct references to dictatorship and the lack of democracy. Instead, Alhomayed argues that the problem in Egypt is all about lost “prestige” of the state. * * * Arab leaders are also grappling with dilemmas similar to those in the Arab media. The Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, seems not unhappy at the downfall of Ben Ali and Mubarak (both of them, after all, friends of the United States). He hailed this as the start of a “new era” in the Middle East, while insisting that the same thing could not happen to his own regime in Syria. Muamma Gaddafi, erstwhile supporter of revolutionary movements all over the world, bemoaned the overthrow of Ben Ali and portrayed him as a victim of the internet . Since then, Gaddafi has had a foretaste of insurrection in Libya and seems to be keeping his mouth shut about Egypt. In the same way that large tranches of the Arab media have failed to catch up with conditions that changed years ago, Arab regimes are failing to grasp that the old ways don’t work any more. The situation they face today is unlike any they have faced before. But while discouraging their own citizens from thinking outside the box, they also seem incapable of doing it themselves. Whether it’s Mubarak promising to stand down at the end of his term , the king of Jordan changing his ministers , or the president of Yemen handing out economic titbits , they really have nothing new to offer. All those steps were announced by the late Ben Ali during his last days in office. And they all failed to halt the tide. Welcome to Jurassic Park. Egypt Al-Jazeera Hosni Mubarak TV news Television industry Palestinian territories Middle East Brian Whitaker guardian.co.uk