Abd al Salam Bani'isi writes in al Quds al Arabi yesterday that the Saudi-owned media distinguished themselves during the Iraqi elections by acting as if the elections were a Saudi affair rather than an Iraqi one. He points to their heavy coverage of the election, their repeated urging of Iraqis to vote, and their enthusiastic cheerleading for the success of the elections as evidence for their decision to serve as American spokesmen in the region. He compares Al Arabiya unfavorably to Fox News and CNN, claiming that if anything al Arabiya was more openly enthusiastic and boosterist towards the elections than the American stations. He then bitterly reminds readers that for a decade the Saudi-owned media "found justifications and excuses for continuing the blockade imposed on Iraq.. and then warmly cheered its invasion and occupation and destruction," concluding that it is therefore not possible to find any precedent which would suggest that they actually care about the well being of the Iraqi people. The reason that the Saudis performed this service for the Americans, he concludes, is that they saw it as a way of getting back into the good graces of the US, to return to the pre-9/11 relationship.
Bani'isi doesn't spare al Jazeera either. He attacks Hafiz al Mirazi, the Washington bureau chief, for his show From Washington, which too often host guests from the extremist American right wing or the Arab right wing resident in the US, and lets them speak to the Arab masses without challenging them. Occasionally, Bani'isi says, Mirazi proves that he's quite capable of challenging guests when he wants to. In particular, he mentions an occasion when he returned Mamoun Fandy to his proper size by rebutting his every argument and revealing his dishonest claims. Since that day, Bani'isi writes, he has not seen Fandy appearing on any Arab satellite television station (aardvark's note: Fandy has appeared on al Hurra, I know... but that doesn't really count). After all that, Nabi'isi ends up praising Mirazi's show for offering a detailed and honest portrait of American political opinion. But he also complains about al Jazeera's general coverage of the Iraqi elections, which seemed to him to be far too positive and uncritical, and which - he worries - may signal an attempt by al Jazeera to curry favor with the US.
So that's how the Arab media coverage of the Iraqi elections - received over here mainly as a pleasant surprise - was received by one Arabist writer. Nothing much to say about it, just an interesting piece I felt like translating. It captures nicely the general disdain for the Saudi owned media among many sectors of Arab opinion, as well as the kinds of audience expectations and responses which the Arab satellites need to take into account as they formulate their programming.
Comments