Arab news TV rivals draw up Egypt battle lines

Google – AFP, Lynne Al-Nahhas (AFP), 21 July 2013

Supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsi rally outside Rabaa

al-Adawiya mosque on July 15, 2013 in Cairo (AFP/File, Gianluigi Guercia)

DUBAI — Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi's ouster has sparked a media war between the Arab world's major news rivals Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera over the policy lines of their respective funders in Riyadh and Doha.

Their differences were first highlighted during the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings when the television channels respectively gave the Saudi and Qatari perspectives in their coverage of fast-developing events, analysts say.

The Arab Spring "led to a polarisation in Arab media," says Saudi analyst Abdullah al-Shamry.

"Both channels became more concerned about delivering the opinions of their financiers than offering a professional and objective view," said Shamry, adding that the two are "losing their credibility" in the face of other Arabic-language news channels such as France 24 and Sky News Arabia.

Egyptian soldiers stand in front of

 armoured vehicles outside the

presidential palace in Cairo on July 19,

2013 (AFP/File, Khaled Desouki)

Analysts appearing on Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya are selected carefully to back their positions, says Shamry.

Gas-rich Qatar funds Al-Jazeera, founded in 1996, which has revolutionised the Arab media scene that was for decades limited to state-controlled media, while Al-Arabiya is owned by Saudi businessman Waleed al-Ibrahim who has close ties to the ruling Al-Saud family.

Ties were strained between Saudi Arabia and the new governments in Egypt and Tunisia dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood, whereas Qatar has strongly backed the Islamists on their rise to power.

The contrast was clearest in their coverage of the turmoil in Egypt since last month's street protests which were followed by the army's ouster of Muslim Brotherhood president Morsi.

"Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya covered the events in Egypt in two diametrically opposite ways," said Mohammed El Oifi, Arab media specialist at the Sorbonne university in Paris.

As Al-Arabiya aired live footage of the protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square against Morsi, Al-Jazeera split its screen to relay images of a pro-Morsi demonstration at another square in the capital.

And what Al-Jazeera branded as a "coup against legitimacy", Al-Arabiya hailed as a "second revolution".

For Oifi, Al-Arabiya's position was "an obvious reflection" of the line adopted by Saudi Arabia, whose King Abdullah became the first foreign leader to congratulate Egypt's interim president Adly Mansour, hours after he was named to replace Morsi.

But Al-Jazeera "adopted a more hostile position towards the June 30 events than the state of Qatar which seems to have more or less accepted the fall of Morsi," he said.

When 53 mostly Morsi supporters were killed outside Republican Guard headquarters in Cairo on July 8, Al-Arabiya ignored the Brotherhood's version of the incident and highlighted the army's statements.

An Al-Jazeera employee talks on the

 phone at the pan-Arab television

 channel's bureau in Cairo on January 30,

2011 (AFP/File, Mohammed Abed)

Al-Jazeera was meanwhile airing footage from a field hospital showing dead and wounded pro-Morsi protesters and it ran live coverage of a Brotherhood news conference.

Early this month, several Al-Jazeera employees, reportedly seven, resigned over disagreements with the channel's editorial line or because of having received threats.

The managing director of Al-Jazeera's dedicated "Egypt live channel", Ayman Gaballah, wrote in The Telegraph on July 13 that "our staff have been receiving death threats, leaflets carrying blood have been distributed outside our offices, and we've been hysterically hounded out of military press conferences by supposed fellow journalists."

Kuwaiti academic Saad al-Ajmi, who previously served as information minister, said "both channels offered extensive coverage of the events but the differences were in their choice of words that reflect their political stances."

They "covered demonstrations on both sides. However, the pictures' angles clearly reflected their attempts to concentrate on larger numbers of demonstrators on one side or another," he said.

-- Viewers lash out --

--------------------------

Viewers have lashed out at both channels.

A page on Twitter with the hashtag "#Tweet Like You Are Al-Arabiya" mocks the Dubai-based channel's coverage.

And a Facebook group with more than 6,000 members calls for "kicking out the collaborator Al-Jazeera channel from Egypt," accusing it of "sowing sedition between Egyptians."

For 18-year-old Hossam, a date vendor in Cairo, "Al-Jazeera exaggerates about and concentrates on the Muslim Brotherhood. Its coverage is biased."

Abdel Fataah Mohammed, an Egyptian expat in the United Arab Emirates, said "Al-Jazeera is slightly inclined towards the Brotherhood but this is because this point of view does not get its share of coverage elsewhere."

The channel however still "portrays events live as they take place and hosts guests from all sides" unlike its rival. "I've stopped watching Al-Arabiya lately. They weren't at all objective," said Mohammed.

To Ajmi, this is healthy competition. "Their varying coverage of the events benefits the audiences... It's unfair for the Arab viewer to hear only one point of view."

Related Articles:

Egypt: The Next President ? (Video)

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…6 - The News

Number six. I'll be brief. Watch for your news to change. It has to. When the media realizes that Human Beings are changing their watching habits, they're going to start changing what they produce for you to watch. Eventually, there's going to be something called "The Good News Channel," and it will be very attractive indeed. For it will be real and offset the drama of what is today's attraction. This is what families at night, sitting around the table, will wish to watch. They'll have something where the whole picture of a situation is shown and not just the dramatic parts. You will hear about what's happening on the planet that no one is telling you now, and when that occurs [we have no clock, dear one], it's going to compete strongly with the drama. I keep telling you this. Human nature itself is starting to be in color instead of black and white. Watch for it. And that was number six ….”

"TIME TO SAY GOOD-BYE" - The Last 18 years – Dec 8, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

(Subjects: Who is Kryon, God, Love, Great Central Sun, (Old) Soul, Benevolent Design, 1987 - Harmonic Convergence (11:11), 36 years galactic window (Precession), 26.000 years cycle, Mayan Calendar, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, “TIME TO SAY GOOD-BYE”  song – Composer, Human Consciousness, Conceptional Thinking, Old and New energy, Middle East, Protest against the new leader in Egypt because he is of an old energy, Syria is a Nightmare, Libya, People of Iran, Israel, Higher Self, You did it !, Change of Paradigm, 2012,  US/Russia, Global Unity, ... etc.)