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02/24/2004 Archived Entry: "Al Hurra joins battle for news, hearts, and minds"

Posted by steve @ 03:08 AM EST [Link]

ON THE AIR: The Christian Science Monitor reports on Al Hurra, the U.S.-sponsored TV network being beamed into the Middle East.

No one thinks most Arabs' visceral dislike of US foreign policy is purely a result of watching television. But it is, experts say, a combination of policies themselves, the somewhat sensationalist way they are presented, and the emphasis on the two thorniest problems in the Middle East - Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

That's where Al Hurra - which means "the free one" - comes in. It is building on the success of its sister program, Radio Sawa. Set up two years ago to target Arab youth - the most disaffected and largest proportion of the population - Radio Sawa now attracts as many listeners as mainstream Arab stations.

Read on.