The Mediterranean as a « concept », not as an intangible natural and geographical entity, is established as well on the flows of transnational communication networks that further stand their ground against the act of territorialisation, to the extent that media outlets have overcome the issue of borders, except maybe for the borders of languages. Hence, the second hindrance to understanding the scheme of information and image diffusion in the Mediterranean lies in the linguistic dissection. The linguistic barriers, if remained impassable as a result of some sort of linguistic nationalism, will incline the English language towards imposing itself as a bridge language. However, ignorance and indifference rather than curiosity and openness label the relationship of the Mediterranean with the media outlets of the neighboring countries. Nevertheless, the history of colonization in the Mediterranean has set linguistic common grounds that caused the Spanish language in the north of Morocco and the French language in the three Maghreb countries Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco to pass the test of time. Additionally, the proliferation of multilingual news channels, notably in Arabic, French and English, has participated in de-compartmentalizing the national media fields and in promoting their intertwining. Such intricacy and richness hardly facilitate setting a simplified and operational description of the outlines of the “media fields in the Mediterranean”, that are often perceived as an inchoate entity.

In fact, the desire of some countries that surfaced during the past two decades to create a political identity for the Mediterranean, by the means of cooperation policies, has relied on the media component. The latter, however, is impeded by the slow process of institutionalization that comes as a result to political reluctances, given the conflict of interests and the disparity in perception among the countries of the Mediterranean. The difficulty of mixing politics and media, as starkly shown in the case of institutions such as the EBU, ASBU
and COPEAM[4], arouses doubts over the possibility of the media to genuinely regulate the inter-Mediterranean relations.

 

 

 

The media field in the Mediterranean can be defined as a space that is organized in accordance with an appropriate logic determined by the specifics of challenges and advantages that every actor, whether a state or a non- state one, can present. This concept takes into consideration both the relationships and balance of power between the relevant actors on the level of a specific type of activity, which is here the media activity in the Mediterranean; in addition to the processes of institutionalization, the mindsets and the knowhow that allow the participation in the determined activities. Moreover, the interaction between the media actors is shaped pursuant to the advantages and resources, whether political, financial, cultural and linguistic that each actor can amass.

 

 

The media field in the Mediterranean is a positional social space in which all participants hold the same interests, yet each must control and preserve their own interests that emanate from the position they hold in the field. Seeking political influence through acquiring a central position in this field explains the endeavors and will of some countries to accelerate the structuring and institutionalization of this field and to ensure its continuity.

 

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