| Table of Contents |
|
"Look, I recognize we got an image issue, particularly
when you've got Arabic television stations
that are constantly just pounding America, saying
'America is fighting Islam,' 'Americans can't stand
Muslims,' 'This is a war against a religion,'" said US
President George W. Bush in a recent speech at the
World Affairs Council of Philadelphia. His comments
came in a rare invitation by the President of questions
from the audience. This was seen as an unusual
move by Bush, whose speeches are usually comprised
of "cheering members of the military," notes Nedra
Pickler of the Associated Press. The President's comments were broadcast on US government-funded Al-Hurra Arabic television station, but not on pan-Arab broadcasters such as Al-Jazeera or Al-Arabiya, or on Iraqi television networks. "It's difficult. I mean, their propaganda machine is pretty darn intense, so we're constantly sending out messages. We're constantly trying to reassure people." Referring to last December's Asian tsunami and the recent earthquake in Pakistan, Bush said "a proper use of influence that helps improve people's lives is the best way to affect—to change the image of country, and to defeat the propaganda." |
Longtime Bush confidante Karen Hughes was
appointed as Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy
and Public Affairs last fall to address growing
anti-Americanism on a global scale. Her mission
focuses particularly on Arab and Muslim countries. In an attempt to garner more American support, the President has also been more forward in discussing challenges facing US efforts in Iraq. In his December 12 speech, he namely condemned the abuse of mostly Sunni prisoners in Iraqi prisons as "unacceptable." Bush also admitted the high price Iraqis have paid in the US-led invasion of Iraq and subsequent turmoil. Page up |
|
The State Department said Thursday it has suspended
publication of Hi, the US government-funded
magazine targeting youth in Arab countries, reports
Reuters. Aimed at improving the American image in
the Arab world, Hi focused on American culture and
was distributed in 18 countries with a monthly distribution
of 55,000 copies, in addition to being available
online. A two-year effort receiving $4.5 million annual sponsorship from the State Department, the magazine aimed to overcome continued antagonism to US foreign policy "and reach an audience directly by tapping into a growing phenomenon of young Arabs indulging in escapism through US pop culture," writes Saul Hudson of Reuters. |
In a statement released to the
press, the State Department said it needed to collect
data to determine the readership of the lifestyle magazine.
"The review is part of a broader effort to develop a 'culture of measurement' and to evaluate regularly the effectiveness of the Department's public-diplomacy programs," the statement said. Page up |
In response to the assassination of its Director
and prominent columnist, Gebran Tueni, the leading
Lebanese daily An-Nahar vowed that it "will not stop
crowing every morning to wake up the sleeping, alert
the twisted and be an example of honesty, purity, love,
forgiveness and hope," a reference to its rooster logo.
The assassination silenced Tueni's "blistering editorial
voice," according to an Associated Press article. A member of the Lebanese parliament, Tueni is the fourth anti-Syrian journalist attacked since former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination in February 2005. Tueni and An-Nahar, which was founded by Tueni's grandfather and opposed the Syrian presence in Lebanon, are said to have played a major role in the anti-Syrian protests that followed Hariri's death. Tueni had increased his calls for Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon in 2004 after pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud's term was extended by Parliment under Syrian pressure, reminds Lebanon's Daily Star. A powerful car bomb killed Tueni, his driver and his bodyguard and wounded 30 others as his SUV traveled in the Beirut suburb of Mkalles. The attack came hours before the release of the United Nations' follow-up report on Hariri's assassination. The earlier report by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis implicated Syria and top Lebanese officials close to the Syrian regime. "We shall not be silenced; paying with your life is part of a journalist's job description," Tueni once told the Daily Star. "Anywhere in the Middle East, and Lebanon is no exception, a journalist has one of the most dangerous jobs." Fearing that his life was in danger, Tueni had exiled himself in France and returned to Lebanon the night before his assassination. A previously unknown group, the Strugglers for the Unity and Freedom in al-Sham (the Levant), claimed responsibility for Tueni's death. Syrian critics remain steadfast in denouncing Damascus for the assassination while Damascus denies any involvement in the killings. |
Speaking on the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation
(LBC) television station, Syrian Information
Minister Mehdi Daklallah said that "Whatever the differences
between this or that person, Syria does not
subscribe to these methods, which are used by the
enemies of Lebanon," reports the Christian Science
Monitor.
Arab newspapers broadly condemned the killing. An-Nahar not only praised Tueni for his "courage and honesty," but also insisted that those who committed the crime "will one day reap their storms, no matter how long it takes." While much attention has been focused on the possibility of Syrian involvement in the attacks, The Jordan Times commented that "the criminals orchestrating these attacks were not doing Damascus any favors, since they only isolate Syria further after each bombing in Lebanon." Lamenting Tueni's loss, the Palestinian-owned, London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi praised An-Nahar as being "one of the very few Arab newspapers that refused to be of service to any external party." The Londonbased, pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat called for foreign assistance in tracking down the killers. The assassination also instigated strong international condemnation. The White House deplored Tueni's fate. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said his "murder is another act of terrorism aimed at trying to subjugate Lebanon to Syrian domination." British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw asserted the killers "who seek to destabilize Lebanon and the region through such cowardly attacks will not succeed." The United Nations and press freedom organizations also officially condemned the attack. Page up |
The Yemen Times reports that Al-Jazeera Sanaa
correspondent Ahmed Al-Shalafi and cameraman
Ali Al-Baidhani were arrested by Yemeni police while
filming a protest in the capital on December 10. They
were later released on "high-level" orders. According
to Al-Shalafi, he and his cameraman were detained for
an hour and a half while police station personnel destroyed
the tape of his report. He also confirmed that
his jailors said they were ordered to prevent reporters
from securing recorded material of the protest.
|
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
also condemned the recent assault on Mohammad
Sadiq al-Odaini, leader of the Center for Training and
Protecting Journalist Freedom, an independent press
freedom group in Yemen. Al-Odaini contends he was
targeted due to an annual report published by his group
that criticized the government's failure to protect journalists.
Al-Odaini is one of many journalists recently
targeted for criticizing the government, which has not
commented on the incident.
Page up |
Televised campaign debates are a recent trend
in Iraq's developing media environment, notes the
Columbia Broadcast Service (CBS). Broadcast from
Baghdad, these pre-Parliamentary election debates
included members of almost every sect and political
party in Iraq. According to Iraq's election commission,
6,655 candidates ran on 996 lists.
The political debates, however, were not aired
live, were scarcely advertised in advance and often
featured more than two politicians, a sharp contrast
to their American counterparts. |
The debates did not
include major government officials such as Prime
Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari or President Jalal Talabani.
Many Iraqis questioned about the debates showed
mixed feelings, but a generally optimistic outlook.
"Broadcasting these debates—regardless of their content—is considered a positive change helping to develop
the political awareness of the Iraqi citizen, but
the problem is that the politicians have not reached the
stage of maturity in the political game," notes Harith
Adeeb Chalabi, a professor in Mosul.
Speaking on CBS News' The Early Show, Karen Hughes said the elections are "a real opportunity for a turning point, for a milestone for Iraq to permanently elect a government and take control of their own country." Page up |
The Fox cartoon series American Dad recently
portrayed Saudi Arabia negatively, writes Michael
Saba in a commentary for the Riyadh-based daily
Arab News. The series' "Stan of Arabia" episode is a
part of a growing problem between American media
and the Arab world, he suggests. Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia"s ambassador to the US, recently spoke at the US Army War College in Pennsylvania and pointed to the American Dad episode as an example of America's negative view of Saudi Arabia. "The American people know very little about Saudi Arabia—except that it is a faraway place, where the people wear robes, and there is plenty of oil, sand and camels," said Prince al-Faisal. "In some way this perception is improving but I feel in many ways, Americans' view of my country is devolving," he added. In this episode, Stan Smith, CIA agent and father of a dysfunctional family, is sent to Saudi Arabia as punishment for wrecking his boss's birthday party. During their stay in Saudi Arabia, Smith dresses his extraterrestrial house-guest like a woman and sells him to a Saudi while his wife and daughter face blatant gender discrimination. His family later faces a crowd of Saudis charged with stoning them to death. The episode ends with the Smiths returning to America and Smith kissing the ground. While animated shows like American Dad draw their humor from offensive language and behavior, this particular episode provided "a particularly brutal portrayal of Saudis and Saudi Arabia," comments Saba. Saudis were presented as violent, criminal and woman-hating. Various pop-icons appear on the episode, including the punk-rock band, The Clash. They sing, Rock the Casbah, a song with lyrics such as "bombs between the minaret." The problem with "Stan of Arabia," posits Saba, is that it is a part of pop culture, which caters to the masses. |
The original broadcast of "Stan of Arabia" is
estimated to have garnered 7.3 million viewers. Most
comments on the Fox blog praised the episode and
saw the show's portrayal of Saudi Arabia as apt. William
Grieder, a national correspondent for The Nation
magazine, says Hollywood influences people greatly.
"Do we always need some one or other as villain to
dread or despise?" he asks. Despite a potential anti-Saudi trend in American media, Saudi Arabia is making attempts to improve its relationship with the US. The Saudi government is funding a scholarship program for Saudi students to attend American universities, reports the New York Times. The program offers 5,000 students four-year scholarships. This program aims to improve US-Saudi relations, in response to the strong decrease of Saudi students enrolling in US schools post-Sept. 11. According to the State Department, only two-thirds of the 5,000 students were enrolled in US colleges this fall, in large part due to the government's difficulty in managing additional visa requests. Page up |
Tariq Al-Homayed recently defended his positions
concerning the Al-Jazeera satellite network in
the London-based Saudi daily Asharq al-Awsat. The
Editor-in-Chief of the pan-Arab newspaper received
a great deal of opposition for an earlier editorial,
"Bombing Aljazeera: a silly joke." In that editorial,
television and the claim that the US was behind a plot to
bomb the station's headquarters in Doha, Qatar. Al-Homayed says that he stands by his original comments and that US responsibility for the bombing plot is highly unlikely. Al-Jazeera encourages extremism; it does not cover terrorism but propagates it, he claims. "Take Iraq as an example of the channel's coverage: have the thousands of dead earned the right to receive the same air time as the masked insurgents?" he asks. Al-Homayed claims he previously criticized US-funded Al-Hurra and Saudi-funded Al-Arabiya for similar reasons. All Arabic-language television networks symbolize the problem of the media's ideological agenda, he argues. Asharq al-Awsat's Editor-in-Chief is not alone in voicing recent criticism of Al-Jazeera. Thousands of Iraqi Shiites marched on December 14 against the channel in response to an episode of the Al-Ittijah al-Muakiss (Opposite Directions) talk show, when a Sunni Arab guest criticized Iraqi Shiite clerics, reports Forbes magazine. Shiite religious leaders should not participate in politics, said Fadel al-Rubaie, a Sunni politician living in exile, adding that the clerics were collaborating with the US against Iraq's mostly Sunni insurgents. |
The protests took place in certain Baghdad
neighborhoods and the predominantly Shiite cities
of Karbala, Najaf, Hilla, Basra and Nasiriyah in the
south. In Nasiriyah, protesters set afire a building that
was home to the offices of secular Shiite Iyad Allawi.
The former interim Prime Minister, Allawi issued a
call for national reconciliation in his campaign for the
December 15 general elections, where the Shiite United
Iraqi Alliance was expected to garner a significant
number of seats.
Iraqi Al-Jazeera journalist Atwar Bahjat said she resigned in protest of Al-Rubaie's comments, reports the Associated Press. Page up |
When she accepted America's top public diplomacy
post earlier this year, Undersecretary for Public
Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes says she
read extensively on the subject. "One of the things that
came through [was] that America is perceived as talking
at people rather than listening to them," she said in
an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In order "to hear and learn and understand better, but also to show a willingness for America to listen," Hughes undertook earlier this year a series of "listening tours" in Arab and Muslim countries. Critics said these aims failed to materialize and that "Hughes is still in spin mode," referencing her earlier work as President George W. Bush's communications director. "I wish she had gone to see real people in the real streets instead of meeting with just politicians and the elite," said Sheikh Shaker El-Sayed, a prominent Washington area Muslim leader. "She seems to have taken on a very narrow mission—of trying to convince people over there of how correct the administration is, no matter what people might think." Hughes appeared on the December 19 episode of Al-Jazeera's Min Washington (From Washington) series. Hafez al-Mirazi, the show's host and the Arab news channel's Washington bureau chief, presented Hughes with some of the criticism she has faced in the Arab world. Al-Hayat's Abdel-Wahab Badrakhan and Fatima al-Koray, Editor-in-Chief of Tunisia's Al-Chourouk daily, echoed common views of the "Arab street." Former chair of a congressionally-mandated Advisory Group on Public Diplomacy in the Arab and Muslim World Ambassador Edward Djerejian; Ambassador William Rugh, Adjunct Scholar at the Middle East Institute and former US Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and Yemen; and Shibley Telhami of the University of Maryland (UMD) also presented their views. Telhami provided conclusions from the recent UMD/Zogby International poll on Arab attitudes. In the poll, conducted by Telhami in six Arab countries, 69 percent of respondents said they "do not believe" America's real goal in Iraq or the Middle East is to "promote democracy." 76 percent said oil was "a major objective" of US policy in the region, while 68 percent cited "protecting Israel," 63 percent US aims to dominate the region and 59 percent weakening the Muslim world. |
The Min Washington episode focused on "the
image of Americans in the Arab world" and followed a
previous episode on "the image of Arabs in American
cinema." The Undersecretary conceded that her challenges
go beyond words. "What's important for the
world to know is that Americans were sickened by the
abuses that occurred in Abu Ghraib, just as the world
was," said Hughes. "Just as Muslims were offended,
we were deeply offended." She highlighted ongoing
efforts at encouraging more foreign student exchanges,
improving foreign language skills in the US, teaching
English overseas and increasing the presence of
US officials on Arab television and radio.
In related news, the Voice of America (VOA) reports that the State Department has announced a new program slated to bring as many as 100 foreign journalists to study journalism at American schools and to visit American news media organizations. Named after a famous American broadcaster and former head of the United States Information Agency, the "Edward R. Murrow Journalism Fellows Program" is the latest in a series of US government public diplomacy efforts. "Arabs and Muslims don't 'hate,'" said mbassador Clovis Maksoud, director of American University's Center for the Global South. "A fringe group does, a group of extremists that wanted to push the Bush administration—and has succeeded—into a polarity of right and wrong." Maksoud added that "Hatred is the rupture of dialogue, an attempt to justify killing and the killing of oneself...But anger—which is characteristic of most of the Arab and Muslim world—is an invitation to dialogue and debate." Page up |
Sesame Street is undergoing a makeover to
meet the challenges of globalization. Traveling from
India to France and from Japan to Egypt, the popular
children's educational television series is abandoning
dubbed American versions for "local productions inhabited
by denizens with names like Nac, Khokha and
Kami," reports the International Herald Tribune. The
series now appears in over 120 countries, 25 of which
feature co-productions. The new international licensing
income accounted for 68 percent of last year's revenue
for Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit, educational
organization that runs the series. Launched five years ago, these co-productions include Egypt's Alam Simsim, currently seeking broadcast opportunities for a pan-Arab version. Lebanese television has just begun broadcasting this version. France has recently ushered in its own version, 5, rue Sesame, which namely features a small village bakery that sell baguettes and has discarded some of the American puppets, such as Kermit the Frog. "We had to adapt it to keep Sesame Streetvalues and ours, finding a way to make it work with French issues," said Alexandre Michelin, programming director for France 5, a state-run public television channel co-producing rue Sesame with Sesame Workshop. "We need some irony. It's very difficult to evaluate, but we have the feeling that in France we can be a little edgier." Nac replaces Sesame Street's Big Bird, in an attempt to develop a distinctive puppet that could be a mascot for France 5. |
A Hindi version is slated for broadcast early
next year in India on Turner International's cartoon
network. Co-produced with the New Delhi-based television
production company Miditech, this version replaced
Big Bird with Boombah, a giant lion that will
eventually speak in other languages from India, which
has 16 official languages including English. Internet
cafes, popular venues in India, replace the French bakery.
"If it is to work in India, the Indian kid watching
it should not feel it is American or foreign," said Miditech
president Niret Alva.
Page up |
As its projected spring 2006 launch nears,
Al-Jazeera International (AJI) is finalizing its recruitment
process. A sister channel of the flagship Arabic language
news channel, AJI recently recruited Dan
Nolan of Sydney-based Network Ten TV. Nolan will
report from Sydney for AJI, which will feature 30 international
bureaus and four main broadcast centers in
Doha, Kuala Lumpur, London and Washington. Elizabeth Filippouli of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) has also joined AJI following a 14-year career as ERT news producer/anchor and feature shows presenter. Filipouli will serve as AJI news anchor at the channel's headquarters in Doha. Paul Yurisich, a former reporter of New Zealand's Daily News and a bulletin editor of Television New Zealand (TVNZ)'s One News, has also taken up a position as program editor of the English-language network. |
"I think the world has a need for broader and
objective coverage that will bring to surface as many
different views as possible" said Filippouli. "I truly
believe in the importance of covering stories from
each and every part of the world and examining them
from every angle." Other recent hires include prominent
TV entertainment journalist Amanda Palmer, who
will head AJI's entertainment department, reports Qatar's The Peninsula daily. Palmer previously worked
for the Cable News Network (CNN), the Associated
Press and Australia's Channel Seven.
Page up |
|
[1] December 14, 2005. "Iraq Body Count: War dead figures." Baghdad: BBC News. Pickler, Nedra. December 14, 2005. "Bush Estimates 30,000 Iraqis Killed in War." Philadelphia: Washington Post. December 13, 2005. "President Discusses War on Terror and Upcoming Iraqi Elections." Philadelphia: The White House. [2] Hudson, Saul. December 22, 2005. "US halts Arabic magazine meant to boost US image." Washington: Reuters. US State Department. December 22, 2005. "Italy, Iraq, India, Bolivia, Publication of Hi magazine Suspended to Measure Its Effectiveness/Website Remains Active/Distribution of Magazine, China/Hong Kong." Washington: USINFO. [3] December 12, 2005. "Bomb kills anti-Syrian legislator in Beirut." Beirut: Associated Press. December 13, 2005. "UNESCO condemns assassination of Lebanese newspaper editor Tueni." Paris: UN News Centre. Sfeir, Therese. December 13, 2005. "Speaking out may have cost Tueni his life." Beirut: Daily Star. Blanford, Nicholas. December 13, 2005. "Top Lebanese journalist killed." Beirut: Christian Science Monitor. [4] December 10, 2005. "The release of the Al- Jazeera crew in Sanaa and the arbitrary closing of newspapers." Doha: Al-Jazeera Satellite Network. Al-Jazeera.net. December 9, 2005. "Yemen: Journalist attacked twice in a week and worsening press freedom crisis." New York: Committee to Protect Journalists. December 10, 2005. "Yemen security forces briefly detain Al-Jazeera journalists." Sanaa: Yemen Times. [5] December 14, 2005. "Eerie Quiet Ahead of Iraq Vote." New York: CBS/Associated Press. December 14, 2005. "Still No Deal On Abuse Ban." New York: CBS/Associated Press. [6] Saba, Michael. December 15, 2005. "Will 'American Dad' Define the Saudis for US?" Riyadh: Arab News. |
[7] December 14, 2005. "Update 2: Shiites Protest Sunni's Al-Jazeera Remarks." Baghdad: Forbes Magazine. Associated Press.
December 14, 2005. "Iraqi Shi'ites protest against Al Jazeera." Baghdad: Reuters. December 14, 2005. "Iraqi Shi'a Demonstrate Against Al-Jazeera." Baghdad: RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Alhomayed, Tariq. December 10, 2005. "The battle of the sons of Aljazeera." London: Asharq Al-Awsat and Asharq Al-Awsat. [8] December 22, 2005. "The charm offensive is not charming but it is definitely offensive." Editorial. Daily Star. Gerth, Jeff. December 11, 2005. "Military's Information War is Vast and Often Secretive." New York: The New York Times. Sawyer, Jon. December 10, 2005. "Entrenched distrust undermines White House effort to reach out." St. Louis: St. Louis Post Dispatch. December 13, 2005. "State Department Announces International Journalist Fellows Program." Washington: VOA News. [9] Carvajal, Doreen. December 11, 2005. "'Sesame Street' goes local, without some old friends." Paris: International Herald Tribune. [10] December 17, 2005. "Election lifts Iraqi spirits, Palmer joins Al Jazeera International." Doha: The Peninsula. December 17, 2005. "Al Jazeera heads to SA." Johannesburg: The Independent on Saturday. Adamaski, Theresa. December 14, 2005. "Taranaki journalist for Al Jazeera." New Plymouth: The Daily News. Stavrinos, Anthony. December 12, 2005. "Ten reporter jumps to Al Jazeera." Sydney: Crikey. December 12, 2005. "Al Jazeera International reveals more on-screen talent." Dubai: AME Info. Page up |
