Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: New pan-Arab TV satellite channel goes on air

Un po' di pluralismo non fa male da quelle parti.
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New pan-Arab TV satellite channel goes on air
By ZEINA KARAM | Associated Press – 23 mins ago
 
BEIRUT (AP) — A new pan-Arab TV station that went on the air Monday 
courts viewers who see mainstream coverage of the political upheaval 
sweeping the Middle East as biased against the regimes in Syria and Iran 
and their close ally in Lebanon, the powerful Shiite militant group 
Hezbollah.
 
The Beirut-based station Al-Mayadeen, Arabic for The Squares, hopes to 
counter the influence of regional media heavyweights like Al-Jazeera and 
Al-Arabiya, both funded by oil-rich Sunni Gulf Arab countries that have 
backed the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad. It also 
promises to support the Palestinian cause and all forms of "resistance" 
— a term in Mideast parlance usually used to describe Hezbollah and 
other groups that fight Israel.
 
Al-Mayadeen is headed by Ghassan bin Jiddo, a well-known Tunisian 
journalist who quit Qatar-based Al-Jazeera last year to protest what he 
contended was one-sided reporting in favor of the Syrian opposition. 
Since the Syrian revolt began 15 months ago, some Arabs have accused Al 
Jazeera of whipping up public opinion against Assad's regime and playing 
on sectarian tensions.
 
"I am against any media that may deviate to the level of provocation, 
incitement and sedition," bin Jiddo has said of his resignation from 
Al-Jazeera.
 
Bin Jiddo has pledged a balanced and professional approach at 
Al-Mayadeen, but his background has skeptics wondering whether the 
station will simply be a mouthpiece for Iran and Syria. Bin Jiddo used 
to lead Al-Jazeera's Beirut operations and was the only journalist who 
was granted an interview by Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah 
during the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
 
"We do not speak in the name of Iran or the Syrian regime, we are a 
completely independent channel which reflects reality as it is," bin 
Jiddo said at a press conference in Beirut this week.
 
There has been much speculation over the source of funding for 
Al-Mayadeen, which employs about 300 workers. Bin Jiddo has denied it 
was receiving money from any country, saying it is funded by businessmen 
whose identities he would not disclose.
 
Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, the two most viewed news stations in the Arab 
world, are funded respectively by Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The Syrian 
regime often refers to the two stations as the "incitement" channels or 
"death" channels.
 
The new station will also be competing with scores of other all-news 
Arab TV news channels, including BBC News Arabic and more recently, Sky 
News Arabia — all trying to draw viewers at a time of momentous 
political change in the Arab world. The Arab Spring uprisings that have 
swept the region since last year have polarized the media, with 
journalists accusing each other of taking sides.
 
The split has highlighted a growing schism in the region. Sunni-led Gulf 
Arab countries are at odds with Shiite Iran and its ally Syria, and have 
called for international military intervention to oust Assad.
 
Many of Assad's supporters deny that he is facing a genuine popular 
uprising, saying the revolt is instead a conspiracy fomented by foreign 
countries seeking to topple the Syrian leader because of his support for 
anti-Israel groups.
 
Syrian opposition groups say more than 13,000 people have died since the 
uprising started in March 2001. The revolt, which began as a largely 
peaceful movement, has morphed into an insurgency. A peace plan brokered 
by special envoy Kofi Annan has failed to end the violence.
 
On Monday, activists said dozens were killed as Syrian troops attacked a 
rebel-held town in central Syria with helicopter gunships and shelled 
other restive areas across the nation.
 
The new station led its Syria coverage with statements from both the 
opposition and Syria's state-run media. In a later program, the channel 
hosted Anis Nakash, a Lebanese pro-Iranian figure with a controversial past.
 
Bin Jiddo said earlier that the new channel will champion Arab 
nationalism, primarily the Palestinian cause.
 
"We will fight sectarianism and stand against colonialism and foreign 
intervention," he said. "The station's compass will always be turned to 
Palestine and the resistance."
 
The channel has attracted journalists from across the Arab world and 
even beyond. George Galloway, an outspoken former British lawmaker, will 
host a weekly program called "A Free Word."
 
In the run up to the launch, billboards advertising Al-Mayadeen popped 
up across Lebanon with the words: "Reality as it is."
 
http://news.yahoo.com/pan-arab-tv-satellite-channel-goes-air-190719704.html
 
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Sostieni Rete ECO
 
http://rete-eco.it/it/sostienici.html
 
 

 host a weekly program called "A Free Word."
 
ah, l'angolo dell'umorismo.
 

 parteggi.
 
Parteggio per il pluralismo dell'informazione.
 
Ma forse vuoi fare un confronto tra chi ha più titoli come massacratore. 
  Iran+Siria contro USA+UK?
 
L'aritmetica può essere un buon antidoto contro l'allucinazione.


 Auguri alla nuova emittente.
 
Bon, era l'ora.
 
Ciao!
 
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