Waving the Flag in Arab Living Rooms

​​Nahida Nakad sounds almost euphoric. From now on, broadcast time for programmes will be increased from 10 to 15 hours a day, says the head of the Arabic language section of France 24. The goal is to achieve round the clock broadcasting. The French government has accordingly increased the current operating budget from 7 to 10 million Euros. France 24 is not alone in its expansion plans. Similar efforts can be seen at the Arabic language stations of the BBC and Deutsche Welle.

The Europeans are simply following a trend that began with the American invasion of Iraq. In 2004, the Bush administration launched "al-Hurra" (The Free), an Arabic-language American television station. Just previous to this, the Iranians financed the start of the Arabic language broadcaster "al-Alam" (The World). In 2007, the Russians began their own service, followed by the Chinese in 2009.

Miserable ratings

The unbiased taxpayer might assume that there would be an enormous demand for such stations among the approximately 320 million Arab television viewers. How else could one explain that al-Hurra alone has already cost US taxpayers some 600 million dollars?

Yet, the statistics show another picture. A poll conducted by the American Gallup public opinion research institute in 2007 showed that 30 percent of all Saudis tune in to Al Jazeera, while only 2 percent watch al-Hurra. In 2009, Zogby International and the University of Maryland arrived at similar results. Some 55 percent of those Egyptians polled preferred to watch Al Jazeera. Al-Hurra registered below the 0.5 percent margin.

"Clear ideological mission"

Nahida Nakad has no viewing figures for the Arabic language France 24. For her, the "French vision" of the broadcaster plays a more important role. It is based on three pillars. "The first is French journalism. We regard daily events primarily from the viewpoint of society and only then do we turn to the decision-makers." Secondly, the general perception in France is that culture is just as important as the economy and politics. Thirdly, the "French vision" does not pursue a political agenda. "Although we are a public broadcaster, we operate independently of the government," stresses Nakad.

Such claims evoke an unbelievably wide smile from As'ad Abu Khalil. The media expert and political scientist from Stanislaus University in California sees all broadcasters as pursuing a clear ideological mission.

​​"The USA is seeking acknowledgement for its military action and policies. The others do the same, whether they are in agreement with US policies or not, because they don't want to leave the field completely to the Americans." As such, real competition has broken out with the aim of conquering Arab public opinion. European countries such as France and Germany have also stressed the spread of their culture, especially in light of globalization, which is dominated by the USA.

The main battle, however, is fought on the political stage. Iran provides a clear example. In mid-February, on the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, the country interrupted the broadcast of the Voice of America, BBC, and Deutsche Welle. Conversely, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, states allied to the West, had already removed the Iranian al-Alam TV from their satellites months earlier. Faysal Abdel Sater, press spokesman for al-Alam, sees this as a high-level political decision.

"Saudi Arabia now permits us to broadcast again, but only because the potential for conflict with Iran is much higher here than between Egypt and Iran." A permanent broadcast stop would result in nothing less than a confrontation situation. All this should provoke the Arab viewing public, "as the gulf between viewers and the political orientation of the Saudi media is growing ever greater."

A complex situation

Will these foreign efforts – financial as well as ideological – simply backfire? One might think so, especially after a recent initiative by the US Congress failed. It aimed to impose sanctions, even from side of Arab countries, on broadcasters deemed to "promote terrorism." There was no "al-Qaida" broadcaster on the list, as such an operation would not receive a broadcast licence anywhere, but instead included al-Manar, the station operated by the Lebanese Hezbollah, which is highly critical of the US.

The intention was obvious and the Arab answer correspondingly clear. Terrorists for some are freedom fighters for others. None of the broadcasters on the list had to face sanctions.

Abu Khalil sees the situation here as being much more complex. The attempt by the American Congress had as its goal the depoliticization of the Arab viewer. This has, in fact, long been pursued by the Arab side. "Local TV stations regularly bombard viewers with soap operas, music programmes, and sporting events. Everything is on offer except politics, in order to alienate viewers from thinking about it."

Mona Sarkis

© Qantara.de 2010

Translated from the German by John Bergeron

Editor: Lewis Gropp

Qantara.de

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