USC Center on Public Diplomacy | Washington Journal

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Published: MAR 4, 2005 - 10:31AM PST

Washington Journal
Editor-in-Chief Adam Clayton Powell, III writes on public diplomacy, politics and more from in and around Washington, D.C.

NO INDEPENDENT ARAB MEDIA EXIST, SAY ARAB JOURNALISTS
MAR 4, 2005 - 10:31AM PST
by Adam Clayton Powell III

WASHINGTON, March 4 -- There are no independent news organizations in the Arab world. That was the assertion of Arab journalists addressing a conference on Arab media today, who said the only truly independent voices in the Arab world are bloggers. Even the new satellite television networks, such as Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya, were criticized -- including by one of Al-Arabiya’s anchors, Hisham Melham. He credited the new networks with breaking taboos and showing the Arab world through Arab eyes, instead of through the eyes of European and American observers. But the networks focus only on the extremists. “Misleading and staged debates,” said Melham, are the prime feature of the Arab satellite networks. “The huge and important center is absent.” Instead, said Melham, the networks feature traditional “tribal” views, dressed up in the latest modern video “look” imported from the U.S. Jon Alterman, director of the CSIS Middle East Program, went even further this afternoon, describing many of the Pan Arab television talk shows as political pornography and wrestling. But Marc Lynch, a political science professor at Williams College, disagreed. Some programs are “very different in tone, in quality, in issues that are raised,” said Lynch. “Hisham [Melham] has a brilliant show. What’s happened in the past ten years is that it’s okay to disagree. You can be an ‘authentic’ Arab and still disagree.” Lynch said the real innovation in Pan Arab satellite networks has been broadcasters siding with the Arab people and against Arab governments -- with the exception of the government paying the bills. And one consequence, he said, was recent online polls conducted by Al Jazeera and others showing “90% of respondents” saying Syria should withdraw from Lebanon. Those interactive polls, call-in shows and interactive entertainment, such as “Star Academy,” where viewers can vote for singers they like, have become “extraordinarily popular.” Melham also noted that every major newspaper and broadcaster in the Middle East loses money, with the possible exception of the Lebanon Broadcasting Corporation, a network featuring popular entertainment programs including “Survivor” and “Star Academy.” And that, he said, means they are relying on government subsidies to survive. As a result, according to Melham, the only truly independent media are online. However, there are opposition newspapers, noted William Rugh, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. But he said these opposition newspapers are almost all owned by political parties, so they are not at all impartial. Rugh also expressed concern about Arab media’s reliance on subsidies, noting even such popular networks as Al Jazeera are built on shaky financial foundations. The ambassador noted Al Jazeera was supposed to be subsidized only for the first few years, but “that didn’t seem to work.” Now, Al Jazeera is up for sale, but Rugh said that is no guarantee it will last. “If Al Jazeera is privatized and sold, will it be able to survive?” asked Rugh. The network has alienated both advertisers and governments, he said, and that does not bode well for…... FULL TEXT