Phil Taylor's papers
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BACK TO : PROPAGANDA AND THE GWOT Year 3 - 2004 (mainly Iraq)
Washington's Arabic TV Effort Gets Mixed Reviews by N MacFarquar 
New York Times, February 20, 2004 Washington's Arabic TV Effort Gets Mixed Reviews By NEIL MacFARQUHAR CAIRO, Feb. 19 - An American-sponsored satellite television station broadcasting in Arabic, probably Washington's biggest propaganda effort since the attempts to undermine the Soviet bloc and the Castro government, is drawing mixed reviews in the Middle East, ranging from praise for slick packaging to criticism for trying to improve the image of "Satan." Those watching the station, which started over the weekend with an interview with President Bush, find some appeal in the mix of news and pop culture. But many remain wary of the underlying political message. The Bush administration began Al Hurra, whose name means the Free One, with the announced intent of challenging Al Jazeera and other Arab satellite stations frequently critical of American policy. Some differences in tone between Al Hurra and the Arab broadcasters were immediately apparent, like references to the "coalition forces" in Iraq rather than the "occupation forces." Instead of referring to Palestinians trying to free themselves from the Israeli occupation, one anchor asked an analyst whether the Palestinians were ready to abandon their "historical dispute" for the economic prosperity surely to follow. The station is being pilloried in the Arab press as a propaganda arm of the United States government, trying to gloss over America's anti-Arab bias. Analysts have labeled it "Fox News in Arabic" and a spiritual descendant of TV Martí, the American government's anti-Castro broadcasts in Cuba. The station is not yet available in all markets. Given that it has been on the air just a few days, academics and other professionals say it is too early to say whether its journalistic credentials will overcome the taint of being underwritten by the American government. "The people they have hired look modern, hip, and the beat is fast, but it won't have an impact on the perception of the United States," predicted Mustafa B. Hamarneh, director of the Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan. "I think the Americans are mistaken if they assume they can change their image in the region," he said. "People became anti-American because they don't like American policies." The Virginia-based station, with a budget of $62 million for the first year, is the latest in a series of attempts to improve the dismal standing of America in the Arab world. Some have fallen flat, like a series of television spots called hopelessly naïve because they focused on non-issues like freedom of religion in the United States. Another effort, Radio Sawa, or Together, proved more resilient since it started broadcasting two years ago with a combination of pop music and rapid-fire news broadcasts, much like AM radio fare in the United States. But it also spawned competitors, and some Jordanians, for example, say those who tired of the relentlessly American point of view abandoned the station. Much criticism of Al Hurra in the Arab press and among people interviewed on the streets focused on the vast gap in perception between Washington and the Arab world. While President Bush spoke about the need to foster freedom and democracy in the Arab world in his interview, for example, critics say he has done nothing concrete to encourage Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to end Israel's occupation of Arab lands and note that the United States has now occupied Iraq. "As long as this policy continues, any attempt to improve this image will ultimately be no more than an attempt to market a new face for Satan," wrote Muhammad Abdalah Nab, a columnist on the news Web site Elaph. "Only one Apache, which American policy makers gave to Sharon for free to kill unarmed children, women and elderly Palestinians, makes the mission of this channel not only difficult, but impossible and stupid at the same time." Salem Hamad, 22, a resident of Gaza City, said he had watched the station a few times but would most likely switch back to Al Jazeera. He was bracing for the day that Al Hurra station labeled a Palestinian attack against the Israelis as terrorism. "They will renovate the image of the Americans, but they will sell the idea that Palestinians are terrorists," he said. Al Jazeera's critics in the Arab world find its news analysis or talk shows overly influenced by old Arab nationalist ideas or those of Islamic movements, but it broke taboos with its coverage of breaking news and its discussions of repression in Arab countries and other touchy topics. One reason Al Jazeera won such a huge following is by broadcasting unvarnished, often gory reports about the Arab-Israeli dispute, something government-run stations in the Arab world long avoided for fear of igniting restive populations. Al Jazeera also gives a higher priority to breaking news on the Palestinian front than any other story, again reflecting widespread Arab sentiment. In the newscasts on Monday, for example, Al Jazeera led its afternoon broadcasts with a report that the Palestinian prime minister, Ahmed Qurei, might meet with Mr. Sharon. On Al Hurra the report was the third or fourth news item broadcast for much of the day, but it ultimately led the main evening news bulletin. While Al Jazeera was broadcasting live the afternoon briefing from Baghdad given by a United States general and the senior United States civilian spokesman, Al Hurra was showing a documentary about the actor Anthony Hopkins. Al Hurra broadcasts only 14 hours a day, and many programs are repeated several times. There is a technology program subtitled in Arabic, with segments called "Hot Topic" and "Cool Stuff," as well as a magazine show that talks about exercise, fashion and movies. Some of the segments would be unlikely to appear on other Arab channels. The technology show included a report about a man arrested in the United States for going on the Internet pretending that he was his aunt and soliciting sex, because he was mad at her. A segment on a chic Moscow night club included a shot of a bare-chested male bartender. Some viewers praised the documentaries, also shown in English with subtitles, which are a rarity on Arab channels. Viewers also suggested that the calm tone of the talk shows might influence the scream fests on Arab satellite shows. Between programs, Al Hurra presents unsubtle promotional spots. Heavy orchestral music surges behind images of horses running free, or men walking against the crowd, or eye after eye opening wide. "You think, you aspire, you chose, you express, you are free, Al Hurra, just the way you are," read the text on one. There was some public giggling about the channel's name. "I've neither watched Al Hurra nor Al Abda," joked Sad Saleh al-Folihi, a laborer in the Yemeni capital of Sana, using the Arabic word for slave. Hussein Amin, chairman of the department of mass communication at the American University in Cairo, noted that the station had been introduced when the standing of the United States was at an all-time low in this part of the world. It takes years for any station to establish its credibility, even one not facing such a hurdle, he said. "Their credibility is open to question right now," he said. "If they take the position of the U.S. and color everything with its policies, then people will reject the message and it will not achieve success in any form." Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company |