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US funded news network al Hurra has been on air in the Middle East since 2004 and recently launched its most ambitious programme to date, al Yaum, which connects five live studio locations every week night.
DPme.com spoke with al Yaum’s executive producer Fran Mires and Governor Joaquin Blaya of the US Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG).
The BBC has operated as a public funded broadcaster in the Middle East for seventy years and is still often accused of bias, what do you do to allay an suspicion over al Hurra’s motives?
Joaquin Blaya: We simply show them our numbers. Five and a half years ago US international broadcasting had a weekly reach of one million. The most recent numbers that we have from Nielsen estimate Al Hurra’s audience to be 27 million. That is incredible growth. In Iraq we have more viewers than Al Jazeera.
The network is funded by the US government, what is preventing it from censoring al Hurra?
JB: The main function of BBG is to act as a firewall between al Hurra journalists and the government. It has four Democrats, four Republicans and the Secretary of State and is the collective CEO of these operations. This means no one individual can exert pressure. The BBG ensures that our journalists can report whatever they like with balance and objectivity.
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What stories do you have to stay away from?
Fran Mires: If the story has merit and value we will do it. It is my job and that of all our Arabic editors to make sure we do it correctly. We don’t have to shy away from anything, we just have to make sure we can stand up and say that we have done the job correctly.
Al Yaum is a departure from regular news network programming. What prompted this?
FM: We broadcast live and simultaneously from five locations Beirut, Cairo, Dubai, Jerusalem and al Hurra’s main newsroom in Virginia. By being in the Middle East in these four countries we have the flavour, stories and the content from across the region, without any of the restrictions. It’s a three hour signature show with about 30-40 percent given over to news.
The rest of the show is a combination of live entertainment and features covering issues ranging from health, to parenting to sport.
JB: This kind of format allows for not only news and information but has the flexibility to include all of those other subject matters that Fran is describing. It is a concept that has worked very well in the West.
What benefits are there to working from four regional locations?
FM: The audiences like the connectivity. The technology has given us the vehicle to connect the Middle East and we are very happy with that. It is very challenging logistically but it’s worth it. We woudn’t be able to replicate the same dialogue that we can acheive or create this content for al Yaum in any other way.
What reaction has there been in the US to the creation of al Hurra?
JB: We all know what some US politicians thought of al Hurra in the past. Those opinions have changed dramatically. The best way to measure this response is to look at the annual budget. This has grown to $128 million, more than double the launch budget.
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FEATURED COMMENT
I agree with Mr. Joaquin Blaya about the numbers ( from one million to 27 million WOW ) but he should also mention that