Soon after the end of the Civil War, Lebanon witnessed the birth of its first audio-visual law: the Broadcasting Act of 1994. This Act was, according to the new Constitution that ushered in the end of the Civil War, considered to be crucial in ending civil strife in Lebanon. It was also the first law for private broadcasting to be passed in the Arab world. The introduction of the Act created great political upheaval. This study documents the controversy created by the Act and seeks to understand the extent to which vehement criticism of the Act and of the government behind it was justified....