Alhurra
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Alhurra or Al Hurra (الحرّة, Arabic for The Free One) is a United States-based satellite TV channel, sponsored by the U.S. government, that began broadcasting on February 14, 2004 in 22 countries across the Middle East.
Its express purpose is to counter biases that the United States sees in the Arab world's news media, specifically from other state-owned channels such as Qatar-based Al Jazeera and United Arab Emirates-based Al Arabiya. Alhurra has pledged to provide accurate and balanced news. The Arab audience has been skeptical of the channel's motives.
Operations are based in Springfield, Virginia near Washington, DC. The budget for its first year was USD $62 million. It is operated by a non-profit organization called The Middle East Television Network, Inc., which in turn is funded by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). The BBG is known for funding Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, among others. Alhurra has a staff of about 200 people, most of whom moved to the United States from Arab countries where many had worked for competing television channels. Other related American-funded projects include the Arabic-language Radio Sawa, and the Arabic-English magazine, hi.
The people who run Alhurra have expressed their intention to be as unbiased as possible. The station is part of a campaign to reduce the level of anti-American sentiment in Arab countries, but it is not supposed to be an expressly pro-American organization or a propaganda outlet. The journalists associated with Alhurra avoid the use of loaded terminology. For example, suicide bombers are not described as martyrs—a popular description in many Arabic news organizations. So far, the station has not proved to have a strong following. Many observers see the coverage as pro-American or boring.
Alhurra broadcasts 24 hours a day. It is commercial-free and provides mainly news and information programming. In addition to shows the network produces itself, it has broadcast Arabic-subtitled versions of programs familiar to U.S. (and global) audiences, such as Frontline and Inside the Actors Studio.
See also
External links
- Alhurra website (http://www.alhurra.com/)
- Al Hurra on SourceWatch (http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Alhurra)