Frank but fair evaluations of the late king

Today is the day for hard-hitting, frank but fair evaluations of the departed King Fahd.

Some headlines and editorials from al-Sharq al-Awsat tell it like it is:
"Passing of the Brave King."  "Fahd Ibn Abd al-Aziz:  Wise Political Decisions in Trying Circumstances."  "Great accomplishments of the great leader." "Kuwait's loss as big as the Kingdom's." "Champion of the Umma Passes." "Fahd: thirty five years of serving the Umma." "The King of Political Rationality."

Well, I'm not sure how Fahd's reputation can survive that hard-hitting scrutiny.  Quality journalism all around from SA!  Odd that the editorialists of al-Sharq al-Awsat, who have written about virtually nothing the last month other than the evils of Islamist extremism, have not a word to say about the role played by the late King in encouraging the growth of said extremism.  Not quite the "progress and development" to recall today, I suppose. 

Oddly enough, these Saudis in a picture published by al-Sharq al-Awsat don't exactly look all that broken up... funny about that:

Let's see how al-Hayat handled it:  "a hero in the liberation of Kuwait"... "an era of development"... "history will remember his courage"... "the smartest son of his generation" (what, not the smartest man in history?  Is this veiled criticism?)  (ha, ha, get it?  "veiled"?)  (no, it's funny because one of al-Arabiya's headlines is - get this - "Saudi women:  unprecedented achievements in the era of King Fahd"!  Really... could I make this up?) (Coincidentally, the Women of Elaph were absent for the second day running... really, is not showing half-dressed young women what Fahd would have wanted?)

Ugh.  I'm feeling a bit ill.  Today is not a good day for the Arab media.   Interestingly enough, the "independent" TV station al-Arabiya (which has the King as the first, second, third, and fourth story this morning) received thousands of messages of condolence for the passing of King Fahd.  Kind of odd for an independent station, huh?  And then they ran a story congratulating themselves for receiving all those messages... even odder!  Not that the other Arab TV stations are much better... one columnist in al-Quds al-Arabi describes the Arab TV coverage as a procession of wailing infants.  The same columnist noticed that LBC TV had the exact same Shaykh reading the exact same Quranic verses as on Saudi TV...

Thank the gods for al-Jazeera, today.  Their lead:  "Intense security arrangements for the funeral of King Fahd."  They do have some stories noting the world's mourning, but it's treated as a news story, not as a Reaganesque burlesque.  The death of John Garang in the Sudan - which has already led to fierce rioting, and which could potentially bring about the collapse of the hard-won peace accord - continues to receive equal billing.  Same thing in al-Quds al-Arabi:  Fahd's death is covered, but the Sudan gets top billing.

Oh well... nothing much here that I didn't predict in yesterday's post. Oddly, given how much media attention Fahd's passing has drawn, nobody seems to have thought it appropriate to have an online poll asking people to evaluate Fahd's accomplishments... or not so odd, given what people might actually say.   At least Fahd accomplished something in death, besides postponing an Arab summit which nobody really saw the point of to begin with - revealing the Saudi media presence in all its naked glory.

What's that?  Yeah, I think I just lost my invitation to the Saudi embassy party... again.  Drat!

Comments

[The Lounsbury]

Bou Aradvrak,

I too noted Al Arabiyah turned in King Fahd TV, it was indeed pitiful. Normally I rather like the station, but this was grotesque. Out of boredom with memo writing I also took in al Hurra, which uniquely managed to feature lots of shots of Fahd with American presidents. Not much style in my opinion though.

Al Jazeera did indeed show its value in this instance.

However, putting the Fahd thing in context, I am not sure US media (although I have been away for a long time) is much better when it comes to these moments (i.e. deaths of "local rulers" - say ex Presidents).

[the aardvark]

Al-Hurra showed lots of "Fahd with President" shots? How fascinating! According to a piece in al-Quds al-Arabi, that is exactly how Syrian and Egyptian TV covered it: lots of shots of Fahd plus Prez. Nice to see al-Hurra keeping up with its peer competitors.

[The Lounsbury]

Yup. Multiple times.

Reagan, Bush, Clinton. I seem to recall a Bush II shot as well, but that seems wrong. Perhaps I was dazed.

It was touching if a bit boring. Okay, rather boring.

[Adam]

"Thank the godS for al-Jazeera"

Hmm... was that a snide jab at Wahhabism?

[the aardvark]

can't get anything past you people!

.... no, I only wish I was that clever....