When you have basic questions and don't know where to begin, consulting a reference resource - like an encyclopedia - is a great place to start. Encyclopedias often have disciplinary perspectives. A search for a topic in the database Credo Reference will give you many entries from different disciplinary encyclopedias. They will help you develop perspective on an issue or place!
"The authoritarian regimes, quasi-police states, oligarchies, and military-backed governments that dominate the political landscape of the Middle East and North Africa provide formidable obstacles to press freedom and independent journalism. Although constitutions from Algeria to Yemen explicitly guarantee the rights to press freedom and freedom of expression, governments limit those very same rights through a variety of formal and informal controls that include state ownership of media and bureaucratic mechanisms, censorship, legal harassment, intimidation, and the imprisonment of journalists. Restrictions on media freedom remain symptomatic of the region's overall lack of democratic institutions and the rule of law, bucking a worldwide trend in the post-Cold War era."
Campagna, J. (2003). Freedom of the press in the Middle East and North Africa. In D. Johnston, Encyclopedia of international media and communications. Elsevier Science & Technology. Credo Reference: https://muhlenberg.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/estimc/freedom_of_the_press_in_the_middle_east_and_north_africa/0?institutionId=4200
