Discredited notions
By
Salah Issa
On the 50th anniversary of the Voice of the Arabs radio station the idea emerged that an Egyptian television satellite channel should be created to do exactly what the radio station attempts to do -- keep the Arabs together. The proposed television channel would confront divisions, discourage isolationism, extol unity and avoid controversy.
Endorsing the proposal, the minister of information mandated an Egyptian satellite channel with this task and formed a committee to examine the necessary details. The editorial content of the channel, though, remains a subject of controversy. Some want the channel to confine its programmes to culture, arts, society and history and avoid the thornier issue of politics. Others argue that politics is essential if we are to unify the political vision of the Arabs and heal divisions. A non-political channel, they say, will have little influence, let alone justification.
A third group have voiced reservations about government- run channels, Egyptian or non-Egyptian, and want the channel to be free of any official intervention. A fourth group says that what is needed is not a channel to address the Arabs but one through which Arabs address the world.
There are, though, a couple of points that have yet been overlooked. First, the Voice of the Arabs was born out of the belief that the media is a tool for mass mobilisation. This notion is not only outdated, but thoroughly discredited. National unity can be achieved only by accepting diversity and acknowledging the right to be different. And this is something Arab countries still need to recognise in the conduct of their internal and external affairs.
This week's Soapbox speaker is the editor- in-chief of Al-Qahira weekly newspaper
