A couple of perspectives on the launch of BBC Arabic from different parts of the Middle East.
The Gulfnews thinks the Beeb won’t have enough passion:
Regional viewers are more accustomed to Al Jazeera’s confrontational style, which expertly raises emotions – a safe, measured BBC approach is probably unlikely to move the masses. BBC Arabic, for all its good intentions, could even face a wider audience suspicious of a new British channel that will inevitably be seen by many to be linked to the occupation of Iraq, and the US propaganda machine.
The Jerusalem Post sees the launch influencing Al-Jazeera’s coverage of Israel:
Al-Jazeera is also set to face more competition in the Middle East TV market, with the scheduled start next week of the BBCs’ new highly-touted Arabic news channel.
Being caught in a ratings war with serious rivals is perhaps another reason the Qatari station has ramped up its attacks on Israeli policy in recent weeks.
3 responses to “Different reactions to BBC Arabic”
It will be interesting to see how diplomatic editor Mark Urban’s March 11 despatch from Gaza compares and contrasts with what is shown to BBC Arabic. This concerns how a story is framed and who gets a chance to be represented.
In an arena where the perceptions are often seen and shown through a lens of local biases, the Arab audience will judge if BBC Arabic can act as conciliatory media in the development and maintenance of a peaceful, democratic civil society in the Middle East.
A conciliatory media that works to offer in-depth and diverse perspectives with regard to issues of collective social importance.
The Arab information ministers recently adopted a “Charter of Principles” seeking to regulate satellite broadcasts, raising fears among media circles of a concerted move to muzzle stations. Some implications are already visible: Clock TV — owned by Lebanese and Libyan investors — canceled plans to start a new talk show called “Hour by Hour,” after the Egyptian government objected to it, apparently because it feared it would become a new voice of criticism. “Free speech in Egypt will not be the only victim here, it’s the whole Arab world,” said Khairi Ramadan, who was to host “Hour by Hour,” dubbing the charter a “huge step backward.” “There are serious fears of this charter and the bigger danger is to come.”
Launched in this backdrop in a week when the OIC summit is held, can BBC Arabic with its 70 years engagement with the Arab audience signal a huge step forward?
One wonders how in its interaction with the OIC leaders it upholds, promotes and strengthens the cause of free speech through raising awareness and prompting mobilization.
As BBC launches it Arabic channel, it also needs to see how it carries different messages across its different platforms.
Take for example the BBC survey about the situation in Iraq on the eve of the fifth year of invasion. A report on BBC World News Tonight on BBC4 talked cited a survey speaking about “safer neighbourhoods” and a “Sunni awakening” as signs of improvement. One wonder if footage of Adam Brook’s report on the Fallujah race and his interview with Dr. Monjed Al-Rezali, Head of the Baghdad Morgue are used
on BBC Arabic Channel and how the audiences respond to it.