Arab satellite television : The world through their eyes

Reuters

With 150 channels to choose from, Arabs are arguing, comparing and questioning as never before. Will this burst of freer speech bring democracy any closer?

THE dusty little town of Laayoune lies at the extreme western end of the Sahara desert, or about as far as you can get from Arabia and still be in an Arabic-speaking land. Before this century its only links to the Arab east were shortwave radio, old newspapers, the occasional Egyptian movie, and the talk of pilgrims returning from the haj. But now the clamour of places such as Beirut and Baghdad has come to Laayoune's doorstep: indeed, right into its living rooms, 24 hours a day.