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Alhurra

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Alhurra (Arabic: الحرّة), Arabic for The Free One) is a United States-based satellite TV channel, sponsored by the U.S. government (more specifically, funded by the U.S. Congress, directed entirely by the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors, and technically operated as a non-profit organization under the name of Middle East Broadcasting Network or "MBN," along with its sister and precursor, Radio Sawa), that began broadcasting on February 14, 2004 in 22 countries across the Middle East. U.S. Government sources generally refer to the channel as Al-Hurra, and it is also referred to as Al Hurra. Like all forms of U.S. public diplomacy (propaganda), its broadcast is forbidden in the U.S. itself under the 1948 Smith-Mundt Act.

Primary purpose

Its express purpose is to counter biases that the United States sees in the Arab world's news media, specifically from other state-owned channels such as Qatar-based Al Jazeera and United Arab Emirates-based Al Arabiya. Alhurra has pledged to provide accurate and balanced news. The Arab audience has been skeptical of the channel's motives.

Funding

The budget for its first year was US$62 million, and $40 million more for an Eragh-specific station. $652 million has been requested for international broadcasting in 2006, which would include specific coverage for European Muslims, and a Persian language station.

This network is operated by a non-profit organization called The Middle East Television Network, Inc., which in turn is funded by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). The BBG is known for funding Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, among others.

  • Alhurra has a staff of about 200 people, most of whom moved to the United States from Arab countries where many had worked for competing television channels.
  • Other related American-funded projects include the Arabic-language Radio Sawa, and the Arabic-English magazine, hi.

Operations are based in the community of Springfield in Fairfax County, Virginia near Washington, DC.

Content

Alhurra’s broadcasting is varied, targeted at the general public, particularly those under the age of 30. Programs include entertainment, documentaries, and news. Alhurra has expressed their intention to be as unbiased as possible.

The station is part of a campaign to reduce the level of anti-American sentiment in Arab countries, but it is not supposed to be an expressly pro-American organization or a propaganda outlet. The journalists associated with Alhurra avoid the use of loaded terminology, for example, suicide bombers are not described as martyrs — a popular description in many Arabic news organizations.

Some observers see the coverage as pro-American or boring, and others say viewers consider it as a bland Lebanese station reflecting the primary ethnic make-up of its staff.

The station’s news coverage is heavily weighted toward statements by American officials, and U.S. president George W. Bush’s speeches are broadcast, sometimes taking up most of the news broadcast time. U.S. military officials are interviewed when events occurr in Iraq, and Israeli officials speak on events in southern Lebanon and Palestine.

As of 2005 polling data on viewing is contradictary. A BBG commissioned seven-country survey showed that 29 percent of the adult satellite-viewing audience had tuned in to Alhurra in a week in April 2005. However a Zogby International survey in June 2004 found 0.02% of Arabic audiences [1] turned to Alhurra as a first choice for news, 3.8% picked it as a second choice [2].

Alhurra has recently bought a one-year package of 45 BBC Worldwide documentary and current affairs programs to improve ratings [3].

Schedule

Alhurra broadcasts 24 hours a day, and is commercial-free. In addition to shows the network produces itself, it has broadcast Arabic-subtitled versions of programs familiar to U.S. (and global) audiences, such as Frontline and Inside the Actors Studio.

Norman Pattiz

PLEASE CHECK LATEST NEWS REPORTS FROM WSJ & OTHER PAPERS, TO WIT: Pattiz Resigns From BBG (January 11, 2006) The Wall Street Journal (and RadioInk) reports that Westwood One founder Norm Pattiz, who launched the US government's Arabic-language media outlets, Radio Sawa and Alhurra Television, has resigned from the governing board that funds and oversees the projects.

A Clinton appointee, Pattiz had served on the Broadcasting Board of Governors since 2000.

In his resignation letter to President Bush, Pattiz said the two ventures are now "reaching mass audiences previously unheard of for US international broadcasting in that region of the world."

Pattiz said that he wants to devote his time to other ventures and that his decision to quit the BBG had "noting to do with politics."


Norman Joel Pattiz was the inspiration for Al-Hurra TV. Pattiz is a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors which oversees the government’s nonmilitary international broadcasting services, including Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia. He has been an active force in the Israel Policy Forum (IPF) serving as a donor and vice president. IPF is an organization which promotes U.S. awareness and involvement in the Middle East peace process. He hosts IPF monthly roundtable discussions where prominent community members meet with Israeli leaders, media representatives or other individuals with unique insight about the Middle East. In 1999, Norman Pattiz was honored by IPF at a tribute dinner where former Prime Minister Ehud Barak presented the award and called Pattiz "an ever-increasingly important conduit of information and good will." Pattiz credits his community involvement to his Jewish upbringing. "My mother’s parents were Orthodox Jews ... I have very fond and intense memories of my grandparents. Every Jewish holiday was a day where we would spend time in shul and then spend time at my grandmother’s house, where the family would gather and have a meal together. "I consider myself a moral person, a caring person, a fair person," Pattiz added. "And I think all of those things come from my background as a Jew." Pattiz is founder and chairman of Westwood One, America's largest distributors of commercial radio programming. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and Pacific Council on International Policy, and serves on the boards of the Museum of Television & Radio, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the Earth Communications Office (ECO). Pattiz, born in 1943, resides in Beverly Hills, California. He also served on the Advisory Board of the RAND Corporation's Center for Middle East Public Policy until 2005.

See also

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