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Until the 1990s almost all television
channels in the Arab countries were government owned and
rigidly controlled. These channels still exist but the
situation began to change in the 1990s with the spread of
satellite television. Privately owned and non-governmental
channels introduced livelier programmes aimed at a pan-Arab
audience and also adopted a more professional approach to news
and current affairs.
The pioneer in this field was the news
channel, al-Jazeera, which is financed by the government of
Qatar but has a enjoys a large measure of independence.
Al-Jazeera, many of whose staff originally came from the BBC,
became the first Arabic channel to provide extensive live news
coverage, even sending reporters to previously unthinkable
places, such as Israel. Al-Jazeera also broke new ground with
its discussion programmes which looked at issues from more
than one point of view and often raised subjects that had
previously been taboo. In this new
atmosphere of increased freedom and competition, Dubai has
been making strenuous efforts to become the main media centre
for the Middle East through the Dubai
Media City project.
In 2008, at a meeting called by Egypt and
Saudi Arabia, Arab information ministers approved a charter to
regulate satellite broadcasting.
This was widely viewed as an attempt to assert control over
the medium.
The online journal, Arab
Media and Society (and its predecessor, Transnational
Broadcasting Studies), produced at the American
University in Cairo, is probably the best source for articles
about Arab television. Another useful resource is the MEB
Journal, published by the Middle East Broadcasters
Association. It is described as "the first comprehensive
magazine focused on the Arab media and television
industry", covering "all aspects of the emerging
broadcasting and production sector in the Middle East".
al-Jazeera
Best-known of the Arabic news channels and
probably the most watched, it was established in Qatar in
1996.
See special
page
al-Arabiya
One of the two main Arabic news channels.
An offshoot of MBC,
it was established in 2003 and is based in Dubai.
al-Arabiya
General information from Wikipedia
alarabiya.net
Official website; also in English
Profile:
al-Arabiya TV
BBC, November 2003
al-Hurra
Al-Hurra ("The Free One") was
established by the United States in 2004 to counter perceived
biases in the Arab news media, especially the satellite
channels such as al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya.
Alhurra
General information from Wikipedia alhurra.com
Official website, in English and Arabic
Al
Hurra TV
The
Second Invasion, by Mike Whiney. Counterpunch magazine, 22
October, 2004
Comments
on Radio Sawa and al-Hurra Television
by William Rugh. Testimony to Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, 29 April 2004. (PDF)
al-Manar
Lebanese-based channel owned by Hizbullah.
Highly controversial, it has been accused of anti-semitism and
support for terrorism. Less widely watched than al-Jazeera and
al-Arabiya but nevertheless popular in some parts of the
Middle East.
almanar.com.lb
Official website. Also in English
Censoring
al-Manar TV
By Niraj Warikoo. Detroit Free Press, 20 March, 2005
France closes down
al-Manar TV channel – what comes
next?
Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Israel, 5
December 2004
Al-Manar in the dog house
Ahram Weekly, 23 December, 2004
Al-Manar and 'TV terrorism'
By Lawrence Smallman. Al-Jazeera, 24 December 2004
Dangerous precedent seen in decision
to put Al-Manar on list of terror organisations
Reporters sans Frontieres, 20 December 2004
Lebanese satellite TV banned from
Eutelsat
Reporters sans Frontieres, 14 December 2004
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