Marwan M. Kraidy is Associate Professor of Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. Previously a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and Director of the Arab Media and Public Life (AMPLE) project, Kraidy has authored Hybridity, or, The Cultural Logic of Globalization (2005) and co-edited Global Media Studies: Ethnographic Perspectives (2003). He has written widely and contributed frequently to media discussions of Arab media and global communication, mostly on National Public Radio.

• Introduction: beyond al-Jazeera; 1. Screens of contention: the battle for Arab viewers; 2. Voting Islam off the island? Big Brother in Bahrain; 3. The Saudi-Lebanese connection; 4. Contesting reality: Star Academy and Islamic authenticity in Saudi Arabia; 5. Gendering reality: Kuwait in the eye of the storm; 6. A battle of nations: Superstar and the Syrian-Lebanese media war; 7. The 'new Middle East'? Reality television and the 'independence intifada'; Conclusion: performing politics, taming modernity; Appendix.

'Kraidy demolishes the notion that Arab television is all about news programs, and everything else is 'mere entertainment'. Reality Television and Arab Politics leaves no doubt that entertainment must be taken seriously. This book is indispensable for the study and teaching of Arab media.' Walter Armbrust, St. Anthony's College, Oxford University