- In Lebanon, the degree of freedom and well-established tra- ditions of local media allow ample room for foreign media, includ- ing Al Jazeera to operate freely. However, Al Jazeera still faces problems similar to those in Iraq, despite the differences between the two countries. In particular, this relates to power-sharing, reli- gious and sectarian subgroups taking the form of parties and shap- ing the core of the political system, not to mention the non-state armed actor, Hezbollah. Besides, some armed groups with limited influence do exist, including the remaining partisan and sectarian political powers. Each politico-sectarian group has one or more special area of influence in which it acts as the owner of an estate, setting limits for media coverage. The sectarian divide in Lebanon is inherently linked to the core of the political system since its inception under the French mandate in the 1920s (1) . Irrespective of the historical background of this divide and the conditions of its formation, it is currently an integral part of the prevailing sociopolitical and security sys- tem, despite the fact that an increasing number of Lebanese are no longer supportive of this system. Those who took to the streets in many parts of the country in 2019 are in essence anti-sectarian protesters. Sectarianism imposed special rules within the state in- stitutions and society, and created clearly demarcated zones where- by influence is distributed among sectarian actors. Those groups differ from one another by the extent of their power and the type of pressure they exert on others. Primarily, this sociopolitical and security complex contributes to limiting the freedom of the press regardless of what the state laws and regulations say. Because of this interference between state and non-state rules and state and non-state actors enforcing them, Al Jazeera and other media out- lets operating in Lebanon face enormous challenges in accessing information and covering events without pressure. The sectarian and political quotas in state offices and institutions create different and sometimes contradicting interpretations of rules and the way they should be observed by media professionals. In such circum-
(1) For more details, refer to Emil Shahin, The Historical Structure of Lebanon’s Sectarian Political System , (Beirut: Dar Al Farabi, 2015), p. 20 et seq .
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