The Arab media has developed slowly since the independence of most Arab countries. Its development has been impeded by a variety of factors, some of which still exist. It may be said that audio-visual media has developed rapidly and gained popularity and recognition across the Arab world. Radio, in particular, was and is still the main source of news and information in most Arab countries. Radio's popularity can be traced to the high level of illiteracy that gripped the Arab world. Illiteracy had a great impact on the development of print media, as a high proportion of Arab people could not read or write, and newspapers were accessed only by those elite who could read both Arabic and other, foreign languages. The underdeveloped economy in most Arab countries also contributed to the slow development of print media because of the low level of readership in some Arabic countries. As efforts were exerted to improve literacy rates across the Arab world, however, the print media started expanding, and, as a result, there has been a proliferation of daily and weekly newspapers across the Arab world. The Arab public today enjoys a wide range of print media in different languages. In rural areas, however, there is still very slow progress in print media, as most of the people there are illiterate or financially cannot afford newspapers.