Rtuk, Broadcasting, and the Middle East: Regulating the Transnational

Abstract

Media flows and transnational dynamics have increasingly been seen as key components of both shared and eclectic transformations in the Middle East. While Turkey is emerging as a key political, cultural, and economic player in the region, it is also assuming the role of a significant node in the transnational crossroads that traverse the Middle East. We scrutinize in this article the ways in which RTUK-initially a national broadcasting regulatory body-has become an international agent in pursuit of forging a transnational broadcasting sphere in the Middle East. The authors argue how, if in any way, the initiatives of RTUK are decentering the hegemonic position of global media and challenging existing power geometries by way of offering an alternative media sphere in the Middle East.