Evelyn Early addressed this more domestic side of earlier communications technologies in Arab lands . Radio and television are, until recently, everywhere in the Middle East centralized services under state control, sponsorship and supervision. Television, and especially radio, are sources of information which will continue to be important for a long time to come. It is the existing realm of choices. For example, many Middle Easterners rely on Radio Monte Carlo for information during political crises.
Radio also has a role in conveying social trends and conditions.
As a conveyer of ceremony, television is especially powerful, although it carries cultural baggage which radio does not. Television, through news coverage of international diplomacy, can help convey legitimacy on governments. Radio and television are also major sources of entertainment. In spite of the growing popularity of television and satellite TV, radio remains the most important medium of communication in the Arab World. In the second workshop , Alex Shalaby of ATT compared the telephone situation in the US to that in Arab countries .