CPD Director Quoted in ProPublica on Alhurra

CPD Director Philip Seib was quoted in a June 21 ProPublica article titled "Alhurra's Effectiveness, Expense Criticized in New Senate Report."



The article discusses the new Senate report that questions the effectiveness of Alhurra, the U.S. government's Arab language station that broadcasts to the Middle East. Set up by the Bush administration in 2004 to promote U.S. foreign policy in the region, Alhurra has been criticized for its low numbers in viewership and its expensive costs (it is the U.S. government's most expensive foreign broadcasting effort).



In the article, Seib calls the report, released by Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, "an honest appraisal" and a "welcome relief after so many government efforts to paint a ridiculously optimistic picture of U.S. public diplomacy achievements." He also says, "Alhurra, the U.S. government's Arabic-language television news channel, was created as if there were audiences eager to hear from America because they had no reliable home-grown news sources. That, however, is no longer true," Seib wrote in response to the report."



Click here to read the entire article.