Anne Hagood says that at least on the media front Iran and Saudi Arabia have been fighting a proxy war in northern Yemen, taking advantage of the Houthi rebellion to promote their political visions to the detriment of their geostrategic competitors.

Lorenza Fontana looks at how Hezbollah and Israel handled the media in the 2006 war

Wayne Hunt looks at media aspects of the Gaza conflict between December 2008 and January 2009, and specifically at Caryl Churchill's controversial 10-minute play entitled Seven Jewish Children – a play about Gaza. Then he speculates about an 'interview' drama to be called Frost Osama.

Shereen El Feki reviews Arab Television Industries by Marwan Kraidy and Joe F. Khalil, and Reality Television and Arab Politics: contention in public life, also by Marwan M. Kraidy

Aaron Wenner reviews (Un)Civil War of Words: Media and Politics in the Arab World by Mamoun Fandy, concluding that it is an interesting and timely argument for a more nuanced understanding of the political and social role of Arab media, but would be much stronger if it had more specific case studies, a clearer conception of its terms, and a more precise focus.

Mourad Haroutunian shares his thoughts on the many reasons why Arab audiences have being moving away from the big pan-Arab news channels towards nation-based television channels, especially those offering sports, movies and other forms of entertainment.

Sheyma Buali, after attending the annual Arab Media Forum in Bahrain, comments on the elephant in the room that many participants were reluctant to address

The complete text of U.S. House of Representatives resolution 2278, which would penalize satellite providers that contract with broadcasters such as al-Manar and al-Aqsa. The US Senate has not yet acted on the resolution

Yasmin Moll writes on visual aspects of the phenomenon of Islamic televangelism, arguing that: “a consideration of contemporary media practices in Islam invites us to expand our definition of what the visual might be and what acts of seeing might entail.”

The financial crisis in the United Arab Emirates has tested the limits of media freedom in the country, and many of the participants, especially government and the media, have fallen short..Sam Potter describes how the local press in the UAE has handled the financial crisis and wonders how long the practice of self-censorship can continue when alternative sources of information are so readily available