Arabic TV Quality Getting More Important
In a move that will seem very ironic, the folks at TV International are now going to air their Arabic version of Al Jazeera English. It is unclear whether this move by the satellite TV company will cause the rest of the networks to increase their Arabic programming, but it is a step in the right direction. We all know that many Americans and Europeans have been tuning out Al Jazeera English over the past couple of years due to its biased and one-sided nature. But with satellite TV now offering even English languages programs in other major world languages, it may well turn out that those who tune in to Al Jazeera are getting more than what they were used to.
As you might expect, correspondents from the Al Jazeera brand are not happy about this development. According to The Associated Press, Randa Jarrar says that, “While it’s good for Arabic news, it’s unfair to portray Al Jazeera’s focus on news as somehow corrupted.” She added that, “It sends a message that if you want a worldwide web presence, you have to give up your national interest.” Even though Randa Jarrar is the face of Al Jazeera English, she is actually an employee of the media giant CNN.
If this new venture does indeed pick up in the Arabic market, it will be interesting to see how this affects the other networks. Will CNN lose its hard-won position as the premier global news agency? And if so, how badly will they be affected? It appears that there is little doubt that Al Jazeera is moving in on the television news business. It is doubtful that any of their competitors can make a comparable run in the news bulletins.