Current Edition About Subscribe The Jerusalem Center

Daily Alert Archive

Every Daily Alert Since 2002

Search

Search more than 90,000 news items by topic, author, or source.
Use " " to search for multiple words and phrases.

Trending Topics

May 6, 2004       Share:    

Source: http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=13160

Losing the Hearts and Minds of Arabs

(TechCentralStation-FrontPageMagazine) Stephen Schwartz - Since September 11, U.S. government officials have sought to "win hearts and minds" in the Arab and Muslim world by crafting publicity schemes and media projects. All of those produced so far have been characterized by a combination of bombast, naivete, and silliness that does more to undermine than to reinforce American credibility. Radio Sawa was dedicated to making young Arabs like America because Britney Spears lives here. But condescending to the Arab world did little to cut into the large audience dominated by such terror-supporting satellite TV networks as al-Jazeera, based in Qatar, and the Saudi-owned al-Arabiya. Al-Hurra, the new Arab satellite TV station subsidized by U.S. money, was launched as an open challenger to al-Jazeera. Yet al-Hurra has failed to gain credibility with Arab or Muslim viewers. Coalition media are wasting time and energy on pop music and soft news. American money can make a difference in the Arab media universe, but only by committing to media independence, professionalism, and a keen attitude of competition with the Arab "hate satellites."

View the full edition of Daily Alert

Back to Archive

Subscribe to Daily Alert: