Issue No. 592
Opinion
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27 June - 3 July 2002 Issue No. 592 Opinion |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
The medium and the message
So long as Arab states have "information ministries" it may not be a good idea to launch a pan-Arab Satellite TV channel charged with addressing the rest of the world, argues Ayman El-Amir*
On Thursday last week, 13 Arab ministers of information concluded their two-day meeting without making a final decision on the much-trumpeted project of launching a pan-Arab satellite television channel. While the project is still on the books of the unified plan of action, the non-decision may prove to be one of the best decisions they have made. A premature action could have resulted in the creation of a costly white elephant. It would have gorged up millions and had the opposite impact on the Western public opinion that Arab governments are so keen on re-educating about Islam and the just struggle of the Palestinians. Meanwhile, there are better, more cost-effective ways of doing just that.
Few in the Arab media industry, and the viewing public, would dispute the power and reach of television. Fewer still know what it takes to produce the appealing and well- packaged programming that could capture a share of the television viewers' market in the present cut-throat competition of the global media environment.
Satellite television is not about satellite. It is about television programming, content and marketing. The rapidly increasing number of Arab satellite television channels, about 50 so far, is an indication of the glut in the satellite distribution market that has led to cheaper rates and access. However, programme content is the core issue, and the cause of the rising cost. As the axiom in the broadcast industry goes, "content is king".
Syrian Minister of Information Adnan Omran has accurately reflected the state of information dissemination when he reportedly told the meeting that Arab public information was incapable of reaching beyond Arab boundaries. This is equally true of Arab television broadcasting, whether terrestrial or satellite-based. It is local-cum-national in nature and in content, even when it reaches out to expatriate communities. It was created, mostly by Arab governments, to communicate with their national constituencies. Local tastes, preferences and interests do not necessarily hit the global television market with the same impact.
Among the many challenges a potential pan-Arab satellite channel would face, three stand out. These are: content, market and editorial policy. A survey of programmes on Arab television networks would produce very little content that could be adapted to the interest of a global audience. A local news programme, a song, a speech, a parliamentary debate, a round-table discussion, a popular soap opera, a local interview, a review of industrial achievements or tourist attractions may have little, if any, appeal to far-flung viewers half-way around the globe. By contrast, Arab viewers enjoy Western television broadcasts because they are partly westernised, have a keener interest in global affairs or trust the news content of Western networks more than they trust the sanitised information coming through their own national channels.
The absence of a common cultural heritage with the West creates a gap that will take a great deal of patient effort to bridge. Considering the resources and the urgency, very little work has been done, for example, to compile and present the value system of Islam in a way that Western culture can understand and appreciate.
Arab television services have little experience in building an audience in a foreign market. Their expertise has traditionally been focused on building a local or national following within the same country, external broadcasting from a western country to national populations in the Arab world or on broadcasting to expatriates as an extension of the national audience. The "CNN phenomenon" is not part of the cumulative experience of Arab television services.
Editorial control would present the most formidable challenge to the envisioned channel. In competing with sophisticated Israeli propaganda and biased Western media, target audiences of an Arab satellite channel would expect a credible editorial policy they can identify with and trust, not a propaganda machine. In the international competition for credibility and viability, editorial independence, professional reporting and uncensored programming make or break a network. The success of any potential Arab satellite channel will largely depend on the extent of tolerance Arab governments would show for uncensored reporting, especially when it gets close to home.
The story of Qatar's Al-Jazeera channel is a case in point. Like a Phoenix, Al-Jazeera rose out of the fire and ashes of the 1996 breakup of the partnership between MBC and the BBC television, as a result of differences over editorial policy. To the staff of the Arabic service of the BBC, it was more than a corporate breakup; it was the dashing of hopes that they had nurtured for a free Arab journalism enterprise. Al-Jazeera immediately came into existence in 1996, thanks to a $140 million grant from the Qatari government, and the solid backing of the progressive Amir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani. The latter was probably the toughest part of the deal. Ever since its birth, Al-Jazeera has been criticised, vilified, boycotted and harassed by Arab governments and media because of its bold, uncensored and editorially- independent news coverage. Even the Bush administration made official complaints about it to the highest level of government in Qatar: the Amir himself. Al-Jazeera and its staff sustained all sorts of calumny: from Arab accusations of being an agency for Zionism to American charges that it was a mouthpiece for suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden.
Al-Jazeera has become the black sheep of Arab governments and media. Today, with less than seven years of a life span and over 40 million viewers, Al-Jazeera is still a controversial, but highly respected news channel that has revolutionised television news coverage in many countries of the Arab world. This, and the fact that Qatar does not have a Ministry of Information, should be a sobering thought for those planning the pan- Arab satellite channel.
The savvy Arab League Secretary-General Amr Mousa has proposed a meeting between Arab ministers of information and Arab media businessmen to discuss funding for the projected Arab satellite channel. It would be quite a learning experience. The ministers will learn, for example, how and why a major Arab network like the MBC left London for Dubai, after having sustained operational and business losses estimated at $350 million in the past 10 years. Now MBC is reportedly bonding with the Lebanese Al-Mustaqbal in a $300 million venture to compete with Al- Jazeera.
During the two-day meeting, it seems that little attention was given to the emerging power of the Internet. To the younger generation, the Internet is the "liberating medium" that has unshackled their minds and souls from the straightjacket of institutional media. It is truly independent, free for all and the most direct medium where everyone becomes his own publisher. It should be recalled that while the "Why they Hate Us" series was initiated by The Wall Street Journal, in the aftermath of 11 September, the real battle was fought in the chat rooms and on the opposing websites on the Internet. The new medium is still in its infancy. If they know how to use it effectively, it may prove to be the most rewarding medium available to the Arab information consortium to counter Zionist propaganda, reveal the true nature of Islam, build support for the Palestinian people and offset the impact of the impending launch of the Israeli satellite television channel.
* The writer is former director of United Nations Radio and Television in New York. He previously served as correspondent for Al- Ahram in Washington, DC.
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