Off Target & Stillborn

US-Based Alhurra Fails to Impress

Thursday, February 19, 2004

Firas Al-Atraqchi

Firas Al-Atraqchi holds an MA in Journalism and Mass Communication. He is a Canadian journalist with eleven years of experience covering Middle East issues, oil and gas markets, and the telecom industry. You can reach him at firascape@hotmail.com

The articles posted on this page reflect solely the opinions of the authors

News item 5

Focus on Valentine’s Day celebrations around the world. The off-screen voice-over describes romantic celebrations around the world while the viewer is privy to couples kissing and necking. The off-screen commentary adds: “In Saudi Arabia, however, religious authorities banned any Valentine’s Day celebrations, claiming them contrary to Islamic teachings. Hotels were given three days to remove all items related to Valentine’s Day. The Saudi authorities have launched a vicious 24-hour campaign to root out any items related to Valentine’s Day.”

The launching of the new US-backed Alhurra satellite channel on February 14, 2004, provoked a storm of controversy around the Arab world. To many, the channel was seen as yet another thinly veiled attempt to influence Arab public opinion in favor of the US, and one doomed to failure, if the US’ moribund Hi magazine was anything to go by. Others adopted a cautious wait-and-see approach to the new channel.

In this two-part analysis of Alhurra’s coverage and prospects, seasoned journalist Firas Al-Atraqchi examines the controversy surrounding its launching as a US-funded Arabic news channel to rival other regional news programming, deconstructing some of the programs and broadcasts with a view to comparing their relevance to and impact on Arab audiences.

By Firas Al-Atraqchi

Columnist – Canada

Hoping to offset a rising tide of anti-Americanism in the wake of the invasion of Iraq, war in Afghanistan, and the four-year old Palestinian Intifada, the US government launched a new Virginia-based satellite channel on the Arabsat and Nilesat transmission frequencies. Titled Alhurra, or “The Free One,” the satellite channel is packaged as a 24-hour news channel to rival the programming of regional satellite news channels, chiefly Qatar-based Aljazeera and Dubai-based Al Arabiya.

According to www.alhurra.com, the channel is “dedicated to presenting accurate, balanced and comprehensive news. Alhurra endeavors to broaden its viewers' perspectives, enabling them to make more informed decisions... Alhurra is operated by a non-profit corporation called ‘The Middle East Television Network, Inc.’ financed by the American people through the U.S. Congress.”

The Middle East Television Network is a non-profit corporation run by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG); the BBG is a federal agency that monitors, supervises, and supports all US nonmilitary international broadcasting.

Alhurra has been in the works since the invasion of Afghanistan to oust the Taliban and pursue Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network. Funded by a $62 million Congressional fund for its first year of operations, the news channel employs some 200 journalists and communicators, most of whom are either Lebanese or Arab-American, and is hoping to create a forum where American principles – the invasion of Iraq despite the failure to find weapons of mass destruction and US support to Israel – can be better conveyed to the “Arab street.” In 2001, the US government funded and launched Radio Sawa, an American-run predecessor to Alhurra, to try and better explain US policies in the Middle East. The radio channel was a hit, but not because of its news coverage or discussion forums – Arab audiences liked the mix of Arabic and foreign music; it was received as entertainment, little else.

In a recent visit to the Library of Congress, US President Bush told reporters that the establishment of a media tool like Alhurra will “cut through the hateful propaganda that fills the airwaves in the Muslim world.”

* The Debate Inflamed

* Deconstructing Alhurra

* News item 1

* News item 2

* News item 3

* News item 4

* News item 5

* Criticism Comes Quick and Harsh

(More: IslamOnline.net / Views & Analyses)

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Dan