"Within less than 20 years, the number of Arabic-language satellite channels has risen from zero to more than 500, including channels financed by the US, Russia, China, the UK and France. Some 50 of these channels label themselves as Islamic (and a handful are Christian) , but Islamic programming is also present in many of the other channels, whether state-run or private. This massive proliferation of Islamic programming has also given rise to specifically Islamist and Salafist channels and programmes. This chapter will describe these developments and discuss their implications. Mass media and Islamic fundamentalism go back a long way in the Arab World." (p.264)