"This study focuses on researching applied media accountability instruments in existing institutions in the MENA region, including press councils, trade journals, ethic codes, newsroom blogs, ombudspeople in newsrooms, ethic codes of specific media outlets, media observatories as well as the social media and NGOs and new media accountability systems emerging on the internet (e.g. media criticism in blogs). The institute’s early work investigated Media Accountability and Transparency in Europe (2010-2013, funded by the EU) comprised two Arab countries - Jordan and Tunisia. Ensuing projects included the European Handbook for Media Accountability (2018) and at the time of writing this volume, a Global Handbook of Media Accountability is forthcoming. This study on Media Accountability in MENA is also based on the project Media Accountability in Transition that was implemented between 2014 and 2017 with funding from the German Foreign Ministry. Following two explorative conferences in Cairo and Tunis in the transition phase of 2013-2014 after the so-called Arab Spring, an ombudspeople-project was implemented in Tunis which has been sustained (Dvorkin, 2020; Leihs & Nedjaa, 2015). An Arab Media Observatory (AJO) was established with the objective to critically appreciate media journalism in the Arab World just as the European Journalism Observatory (EJO) critically appraises media journalism in Europe. The ombudspeople-project, also funded by the German Foreign Ministry, connects the dots to the previous research and project implementation. A more detailed examination of individual media accountability systems in the MENA region now sheds light on the status quo, for the first time in this precision for many of the nine countries - Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia (the Kurdish regions in Iraq and Syria have not been researched independently but are addressed in both country reports)." (Introduction, page 14)