Arab satellite stations are indeed a phenomenon that has started to
attract wide attention, not only from within the Arab world, but
also from outside it. The details presented in the diagram below
attempt to explain the ownership and dependency of these satellite
stations, as well as their classification - government or private -
regarding their political program and performance.
News broadcasts presented by government/official satellite stations
differ from those of private and quasi-governmental ones, which can
be termed as pan-Arab satellite stations (among which are ANN,
Al-Jazeera, mbc). These satellite stations are not subject to
direct political censorship on the part of officials from
information ministries and security apparatuses in Arab countries.
Thus, on the one hand, they are bolder, and on the other, they are
more professional, since they have to respect a certain balance in
their news coverage. This is because the staff in the news rooms of
these stations are aware of the necessity to present a
comprehensive coverage of the issues pertaining to the Arab-Israeli
conflict. The conclusion has been reached that disregarding Israeli
positions, through suppressing first-hand coverage of them over
decades, has not succeeded in sheltering the Arab viewer from
understanding what goes on around him, as well as the essence of
Israeli politics (irrespective of whether this new method would
lead to a deepening of the Arab student's knowledge of Israeli
politics).
The Significance of the Diagram
First, if the Arab media has usually been government-owned, the
private sector is now participating, either alone or in partnership
with governments.
Second, Gulf capital dominates the ownership of these satellite
stations. It is the strongest in the Arab world from the standpoint
of power of investment and publicity.
Third, the majority of experts, especially those working in the
news departments or news rooms in Arab satellite stations, are
Lebanese, Egyptian, North African (especially from Algeria) and
Palestinian. They come either from countries such as Lebanon and
Egypt, which have a long history in the domain of exporting
expertise, as well as their media traditions, or from countries
that experience a drain of expertise as a result of forced
emigration, like Palestine and, now, Algeria and Iraq. These
factors are very important because these experts have been able to
interact with Western civilization and experience, and were
influenced by their openness to Western culture and ideas and, as a
result, have acquired real expertise in the field of modern
media.
Fourth, Lebanese satellite stations are distinctive (probably
originally in cultural and entertainment programs), due to the long
media traditions in this country and its openness to the
West.
Fifth, the five pan-Arab satellite stations - ANN, mbc, ART, Orbit,
Al-Jazeera - have based themselves in Europe, with the exception of
Al-Jazeera which is stationed in Qatar. The capital for these
satellite stations, again with the exception of Al-Jazeera, comes
from private Saudi sources (or at best, private, but an extension
of the politico-economic influence of the royal family). As for
Al-Jazeera, its capital comes from the ruler of Qatar, while the
Arab News Network (ANN), is recent and is financed with private
Saudi-Syrian capital.
Sixth, all Arab countries, with the exception of Palestine, have
satellite stations. These are often a copy of their terrestrial
stations. This is probably due to the fact that these stations
target, first and foremost, their own nationals in the diaspora,
and do not necessarily aim to spread the local culture or political
positions of their respective governments. This is true of the
stations of Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Abu-Dhabi, Dubai,
Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Tunis and Morocco.
How Much Openness?
The above-mentioned comments about the pan-Arab satellite stations
reflect a serious change, one that has taken place within the
following framework:
• The plurality in ownership of the means of media
transmission. The countries that could not do that overtly, like
Saudi Arabia, have resorted to transmitting from European
countries, thus benefiting from the laws regulating media
transmission in these countries.
• The improvement in the level of technical
performance.
• The multiplicity and depth of content, emanating from the
openness on the various subjects.
On the whole, a discussion of the content can be considered
according to the following order: news, entertainment and cultural
programs. We will, however, confine ourselves to news because it is
the "carrier of the flow of information." An editor in the news
room of one of the Arab satellite stations once stated that news on
human-rights violations can be aired with complete freedom and
without censorship, but only if it deals with violations on the
part of Israel or the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).
The same goes for any administrative/government corruption in the
Arab countries. The topic can be discussed only if it pertains to
the PNA or to the performance of its autonomous government.
Naturally, this refers to Arab satellite stations that are only
loosely connected with Arab governments, or that are, at least, not
subject to tight censorship, and they are largely those stations
that have taken Europe or Qatar as their base of operation.
Clearly, the above-mentioned example points to some sort of
professional and psychological schizophrenia in the departments or
news rooms of these stations: there is a readiness on the part of
their staff to address the issues of human rights and corruption
when the opportunity arises. This opportunity, however, is confined
only to Israel and Palestine.
A New Facet in the Arab Media
As for the local or government satellite stations, they have a pact
among themselves, whereby each country withholds transmission of
any sensitive material about another Arab country, unless some sort
of enmity exists between any two countries at any particular
moment. One can say that no mentionable change has taken place in
the media policy of the official satellite stations.
The discussion here, then, relates only to the new satellite
stations, i.e., ANN, Al-Jazeera, mbc (and sometimes Orbit and ART,
as the latter deal mainly with cultural and entertainment programs
and do not overly concern themselves with news).
ANN, Al-Jazeera and mbc, undoubtedly, present a new facet in the
Arab media. The manner with which these stations are dealing with
the Arab-Israeli conflict has given rise to a lot of discussion in
Arab political and cultural circles. Does this new approach imply
an approval on the part of these stations of a cultural openness to
Israel? Of course not!
However, it is self-evident that these stations (and, probably,
this is their distinctive feature) seek to deal with the
Arab-Israeli conflict with candor; in other words, presenting the
news with a great degree of balance and opening the door to
Israelis to talk across their screens, thus allowing the Arab
viewer to get first-hand information on the Israeli position.
It does not necessarily mean that this will effect a greater change
on the level of understanding between Arabs and Israelis. Opening
the door to the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, for
example, to talk to the Arab viewer through a television interview
(as happened with Orbit and mbc) does not mean that the Arab viewer
will comprehend the Israeli government position. The only
difference is that the Israeli position does not necessarily pass
through the selective filter of the censor.
Presenting Programs about the Jewish State
Undoubtedly, this practice helps to promote a deeper and more
serious comprehension of the Jewish state, but, again, this does
not mean the Arab viewer gets any closer to the Israeli concept of
the peace process. Rather, it constitutes, in my opinion, a sound
basis for the Arab viewer to take up a position and embrace a
stance and a cultural vision predicated on a lesser degree of
selectivity.
There is another very important factor regarding Arab satellite
news. This relates to the source of information on Palestine and
Israel: firstly, the fact that these stations enjoy the presence of
correspondents based in Jerusalem and Ramallah, placing them closer
to the source of news or events. Secondly, these satellite stations
do the work, even if European and American agencies determine their
news agenda, since these agencies are the primary source of news to
different media networks worldwide. This situation, albeit negative
from the standpoint of the Arab viewer, helps to minimize
selectivity.
News does play a role in connection with the peace process, and
also has an impact on the socio-political changes in the Arab
world, and can probably reflect the degree of democracy in the
political life of these countries.
Finally, in the Arab satellite stations, it should be pointed out
that entertainment programs take the lion's share of the programs
at the expense of cultural programs or news. This is an
increasingly common phenomenon, seen against the background of a
trend that chooses to adhere to market requirements. There is also
a reluctance on the part of what we have termed "new stations" and
new Arab media to depend on government subsidies and help, and they
desire to achieve profits that would assure them a greater degree
of autonomy.
This link with the market means a bigger tie with the Gulf, one
that is not less than the political ties with the governments of
these Gulf states, because 88 percent of the advertisment market on
these satellite stations is that of the Arab Gulf states.