An enlightened view of the media:
Britain’s public broadcaster the BBC launched an Arabic television service on Tuesday with funding from the government to provide what it said would be independent news, analysis and current affairs.
The corporation said the channel would broadcast for an initial 12 hours a day to anyone with a satellite or cable connection in North Africa, the Middle East or the Gulf, before moving to a 24-hour operation later this year.
A backward and counter-productive view of the media:
Israel plans to boycott the Arab news channel Al-Jazeera.
The Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem said Wednesday it would send notice to Al-Jazeera, the Arab world’s most popular satellite news channel, that Israeli officials would no longer offer cooperation.
Al-Jazeera, based in Qatar, has Arabic- and English-language broadcasts and a bureau in Jerusalem.
According to the Foreign Ministry, Al-Jazeera’s coverage of recent fighting in the Gaza Strip has been skewed toward Palestinian propaganda to the point that Israel fears it could perpetuate bloodshed by stirring up Arab ire.
“We have to tell Al-Jazeera, which purports to be the CNN of the Arab world, enough is enough,” Deputy Foreign Minister Majali Wahabe told Army Radio. “You have been telling half-truths and you are harming us. You are getting to the point where it could lead people to undertake activity — even terrorist activity.”
Al-Jazeera’s Jerusalem bureau chief, Walid Al-Omari, denied that the network was biased and said he had no yet received word of any Israeli sanctions.
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 the OIC leaders it upholds, promotes and strengthens the cause of free speech through raising awareness and prompting mobilization?