President Obama chose a Saudi-funded television network today for his first interview aimed at an Arab audience, passing over the U.S. government’s own heavily-funded Alhurra station. Obama’s predecessor pumped more than $500 million into Alhurra, which has been plagued [1] by serious staff problems, financial mismanagement and long-standing concerns inside the U.S. government and Congress regarding its content. The president’s decision to go with Al Arabiya [2] led several media watchers to wonder whether Alhurra would continue to receive the same kind of cash flow from the Obama administration as it enjoyed under former president Bush. "I am curious whether the choice of Al Arabiya signals the administration's abandonment of the U.S.-funded Alhurra satellite channel," wrote Michael Rubin, in National Review Online [3].
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We sure hope so, Mr. Rubin. Not only is Alhurra a waste of money for all the reasons listed above, but no one watches it because everyone knows it just a US-funded BS propaganda channel.
Meanwhile, making good on my headline, I give you
The Atlantic's Mar Ambinder:
CBS News bureau chief Chris Isham reminded me that Al-Arabiya, among other networks in the region, is the pan-Arab voice of political and cultural reform. So it's an auspicious choice by whomever at the White House had the foresight to schedule this interview.
It's progressive
and people watch it.
I wasn't even thinking of that possibility. Of course, no one pays attention to that network, which I never see referenced in the media. Instead I was thinking of Al Jazeera. I figured by making the choice he did, he was paying respect to the official state television of an important ally. Al Jazeera, on the other hand, stirs the pot a bit too much for some governments, I suspect.
ReplyDeleteAh, mate, Al Arabiyah is a servicable news channel, but is not "progressive" in any real sense. It is pro Saudi and pro 'stability.' Al Jazeerah, with its vague quasi Left pan Arab sentiments is actually rather more supportive of 'reform'
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