Global Media Monitor

Russia Today Obama's 1st 100 Days Round-Up

2009-04-29T09:28:00.001-07:00

RT decided to enter the fray of Presidential report cards by providing its own opinions on President Obama. Here are some highlights of their recent stories:

(4.29) "Obama is a would be dictator." Or at least so says Alex Jones in an interview with Russia Today. Who is Alex Jones? He is a radio personality, runs infowars.com and is a leading proponent of the 9/11 truth movement. Yep.
(4.29) "Is Obama's presidential honeymoon over?" For insight, RT once again turns to Alex Jones. Here is the first argument uttered by Jones: "Obama is setting up a Nazi, Soviet or Maoist style state in the country to make us wake up one day in the novel 1984." Specific, accurate and useful analysis.
(4.29) "America is no longer ruled by law." The Father of Reaganomics, Paul Craig Roberts, lambasts Obama's spending. Once a highly respected economist and journalist, Roberts now spends his some of his time debunking the myths of 9/11. Yep. Again.
(4.29) "Obama talks about spending less - and spent a lot more." RT interviews Dan Gainor of the Business and Media Institute. Gainor is a regular on FoxNews and he says what you would expect. I am shocked that no frequent MSNBC contributors made it onto RT.

That's all for now folks.

Iran urged to loosen hold on BBC Persia

2009-04-28T10:43:00.000-07:00

According to Iran's own broadcaster, Press TV, Iran's Majlis Research Center has proposed loosening the restrictions on foreign media outlets "working against the interests of the Islamic Republic."

Following an analysis of the tactics employed by the British Broadcasting Corporation's Persian-language channel, the Institute for Political Studies in Iran's Parliament Research Center tipped off the government about its critical approach toward such channels.

Iran has claimed the channel is attempting to recruit Iranians for "espionage and psychological warfare".

"The public is concerned that the establishment of BBC Persian is in line with the intervening and opportunist policies of the British government in domestic affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran," said an Iranian official before the launch of the channel in October.

The report given by the institute proposed that launching such networks would be a large step in undertaking "soft overthrow projects", stating that BBC Persian is more subtle in this endeavor than the US-backed VOA.

The report went on to discuss the recent advances in global technology throughout the world today including the wide prominence of the Internet usage among Iran's youth "in an effort to caution the Iranian government."

"In today's world, a full-scale media war is taking place between Iran and the West," read the report.

The report urged the Islamic Republic to use this opportunity to fight "foreign movements aimed at toppling the government."

Pointing to countless Internet websites and web proxies, the report said, "Preventing the establishment of satellite channels is not an effective method to break the Iranian audience's connection with such media."

The Majlis report called for "the launch of rival channels and incorporation of as much information content as possible" to neutralize the effect of anti-Islamic Republic media.

"The government should not conceive NGO's and Persian-language channels as a threat."

The report put forward a proposal to the Iranian government to grant such channels as BBC Persian the permission to work in Iran, within the guidelines of the country's constitution.

The institute further demanded the government maintains vigilance in an effort to prevent the cited media from carrying out their "soft toppling projects" in the country.

Russia Today: The Headhunter

2009-04-27T12:35:00.000-07:00

Looking for a job? Russia Today may be able to help you out. Follow these steps:

First, follow the link nestled between 'political eye-opener'* and 'pimp my laptop' on the politics home page:

Second, choose between the following jobs: Electronic Knowledge Base Manager, Information Security Manager, Deputy Director of Construction for a l

arge Investment Firm, Quantity Surveyor or Project Manager Pre-Construction.

Here is an example of what you should expect from RT:

*The most recent political eye-opener is "would Napoleon have been a Tweeter?"

RT & Election Fraud?

2009-04-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

From The Moscow Times (4.24.2009):

Acting Sochi Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov not only dominates local media coverage ahead of Sunday's mayoral election, but rival candidates say he also has a complete monopoly. Opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, Communist Yury Dzagania and ousted billionaire candidate Alexander Lebedev have all sued Pakhomov for purported abuse of office during the election campaign. They complain that his meetings with Sochi residents are shown daily on television, his activities fill local newspapers and he spoke as a mayoral candidate during a recent interview with Russia Today television that apparently was filmed in his office in violation of election law. "He has used his office to campaign," said Alexander Glushenkov, a lawyer representing Nemtsov at a court hearing of his complaint this week.

Here is RT's most recent story on the Scohi election. It does not seem to favor Pakhomov in the least. Even if it did, why would RT matter? They do not broadcast in Russian.

Hat Tip: Kim Andrew Elliott

The Black Gorbachev

2009-04-25T15:40:00.000-07:00

From the recent article, "Barak Obama's 100 days of denial":

Barack Obama, who is already being lightly derided as a ‘Black Gorbachev’ in Russian circles . . .

What does that even mean? Seriously? In fact the entire article is tainted by an immature tone that is more reminiscent of Perez Hilton than any form of respectable journalism.

Virtual Tour of Iran

2009-04-25T15:00:00.000-07:00

Always wanted to travel to Iran but not so sure your ready to brave the actual trip? Take a virtual tour of the country with online three-dimensional and panoramic photographs of Iran’s cultural and scenic attractions with 360cities.net. The site includes photographs taken by prominent Iranian artists such as Ramin Dehdashti. Visitors can see full-screen images of scenes, change the perspective, see them in detail and copy the pictures to their personal websites. Persepolis, Pasargadae, the tomb of Cyrus, Naqsh-e-Jahan Square (Isfahan), Eram Garden (Shiraz) and Dizin ski resort in Tehran are among the countless Iranian sites available on the website. See the article on Press TV.

Piracy justifies US activities abroad?

2009-04-23T18:51:00.000-07:00

In its newest reader poll, Press TV asked "What has led to the increased activity of Somali pirates?"

And the viewers answers.....

1. The problem will not be solved unless a powerful government comes to power in Somalia(28%)
2. The US needs such activities to justify its presence outside its borders(33%)
3. Both factors contribute to the problem(14%)
4. There are other reasons for this increased activity(25%)

Answer #2 isn't really a cause of an increase in piracy, unless they are implying to US promotes piracy... but we all know Press TV had to throw an anti-American answer in there. Any thoughts? Go to the PressTV.com site and vote your opinion.

PressTV Poll: Britains outreach means Hezbollah victory

2009-04-23T18:00:00.000-07:00

A two week Press TV reader poll asked "What is your opinion about UK officials signaling willingness to hold talks with Hezbollah?" The reader's response suggested that viewers felt that Britain's willingness to hold talks with Hezbollah is an indication of the resistance's success in the region.

Of the 5991 respondents, 34.47 percent said it show Hezbollah success; 30.21 percent said that the talks would be in the interests of the UK and Hezbollah; 19.21 percent said that the UK is seeking to convince Hezbollah to abandon its policy of resistance and 16.11 percent said that such talks would bear no fruit.

On March 7, UK Foreign Office minister Bill Rammell told MPs that the government would authorize "carefully selected" contacts with the political wing of Hezbollah, which is represented in the Lebanese parliament.

Hezbollah welcomed the change in Britain's tone and its interest in holding talks with the resistance group saying, "This policy revision is a step in the right direction and we shall see how it translates in practical terms."

The decision marks a significant change in Britain's policy, which has shunned contact with Hezbollah since 2005 due to its anti-Israeli stance. The policy shift will also distance London from Washington's position toward the Islamic group, which it has listed as a terrorist organization.

RT's Poll on Blogging

2009-04-23T13:27:00.001-07:00

After President Medvedev decided to expand his current blogging efforts, RT issued the following poll:

A few thoughts on this polls results:

Readers of RT value blogging. This is hardly a surprise since the website is geared towards web 2.0 journalism (YouTube, blogs, articles under a 1,000 words).
The risk of making oneself a fool is relatively low. The fear of a blogging gaffe is not important.
Why is blogging, instead of daily television appearances, "essential" to maintain contact with the people?

Do You Have a Question for Mikhail Gorbachev

2009-04-22T13:49:00.001-07:00

RT is on a roll. Visit here if you want to post a question to the former President of the Soviet Union. You have until 12 GMT on April 23 to send in your question. I will post an analysis of the interview shortly after RT publication.

Online Poll

2009-04-22T12:58:00.001-07:00

Responses to Telesur’s online poll questions are usually pretty one-sided, but today’s poll is different. The question is “After the Summit of the Americas do you believe that U.S. relations with Venezuela, Cuba and Ecudor will be strengthened?” As the graph shows, about half of the die-hard Telesur audience believes relations will improve.

Spinning Ban Ki-Moon

2009-04-22T12:38:00.000-07:00

While there may be some changes to Telesur’s coverage of the U.S., when it comes to stories about the Middle East, particularly involving Israel, it’s more of the same. On Monday Telesur aired a story about Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s inflammatory comments at a UN conference in Switzerland. The headline of Telesur’s story is “Ahmadinejad Denounces Creation of Racist Government in Israel”. The NY Times headline for the same story was, “Speech Prompts Walkout at Racism Conference”.

In its version of the story, Telesur cherry-picks comments from a statement made by UN Sec. General Ban Ki-moon which was actually highly critical of Ahmadinejad’s remarks. Telesur quotes Ban Ki-moon expressing frustration with the 9 nations that walked out of the conference in protest, but made no mention of his condemnation of the Iranian president’s speech, including this statement: “I deplore the use of this platform by the Iranian President to accuse, divide and even incite. This is the opposite of what this Conference seeks to achieve...It is deeply regrettable that my plea to look to the future of unity was not heeded by the Iranian President.”

By comparison, Al Jazeera English did report the critical comments made by Moon and other Western officials, and generally had much more thorough coverage of the incident, including how it divided opinion in Iran between Ahmadinejad’s critics and supporters.

Do You Have a Question for Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

2009-04-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

From RT:

This was the first live interview with the Russian Foreign Minister in this format, but won’t be the last, as he promised he will be answering, on air, journalists' questions regularly. Another session is expected within the next two or three months, so you are invited to keep sending your questions to Sergey Lavrov at the RT website.

"Change or Death..."

2009-04-21T10:28:00.000-07:00

After the highly publicized handshake between Barack Obama and Hugo Chavez on Friday, Telesur quoted Chavez welcoming the changes which could lead to “new relations” between the U.S. and Latin American countries, including Cuba. “We should push ahead with these changes. If we don’t change we die. Change or death, we shouldn’t lose any time.” Chavez may as well have been referring to changes in his own political strategy and to changes that may be coming in Telesur’s coverage of the U.S., and particularly its coverage of Obama.

On Monday, Telesur ran a story about President Obama meeting with his economic advisors, which may reflect that change. The story was surprising not for its content, but for its total lack of any apparent political agenda or editorializing. Even though it’s an economic story about Obama trying to cut federal spending, it doesn’t include the usual accusations about the U.S.’s responsibility for the financial crisis or about the excesses of capitalism. It’s as close to straight journalism as any story Telesur has done about the U.S.

While a lot has been made about the goodwill coming out of the Summit of the Americas, and the possibility for improved relations between the U.S. and Venezuela, including resuming diplomatic relations, the reason for the change in tone is probably a political one. A CIMA poll released just before the summit showed that President Obama has a 70% approval rating among Latin Americans, the highest of any president in the region (Lula of Brazil has 59% approval and Chavez has a 28% approval rating). Chavez clearly recognizes that he’s dealing with a whole new political reality with the arrival of Obama. In an interview with Telesur after their meeting, Chavez was unusually restrained, talking about how he appreciated Obama’s gesture. Due to Obama’s popularity, the Chavez administration seems to be adapting its tone toward Washington and adapting the tone of the coverage on Telesur.

RT's Contest for the 'Space Birthday Boy'

2009-04-16T17:40:00.000-07:00

In a somewhat peculiar story, RT is hosting a contest to see who can write the best birthday wishes to American astronaut Michael Reed Barratt. Here is RT's description of the contest:

NASA astronaut Michael Reed Barratt is now 50 years old. The veteran space traveller celebrated his half century on April 16 high above the Earth’ atmosphere in a place he now calls home - the International Space Station. RT has been inundated with birthday wishes for Barratt, all of which we’ve forwarded to him onboard the ISS. Michael is busy reading through the messages and has agreed to select the one he likes most. Once he’s picked his favorite, the lucky sender will be revealed in an exclusive video to be shown on the RT website.AS promised by RT, the winner will receive a group photo of Expedition 19 - complete with the crews’ signatures.

Some questions about this contest:

Why Barratt? This is his first trip to space. He does not have any historical relevance to U.S./Russian space exploration.
Why does this get its own special box on the RT Top News sections?
Who does RT think will be interested in this story? What is the relevance of an astronaut turning 50 in space?

New Business As Usual?

2009-04-16T16:34:00.000-07:00

This week’s coverage of Obama on Al Manar continued to cast a hopeful image of Obama and emphasize potential source of friction between the US and Israel.

Al Manar’s coverage of Obama’s actions vis-à-vis Latin America seemed to give Obama the benefit of the doubt and said that Obama attempting to build a new cooperative relationship with Latin American states. Another article mentioned changes to the American stance on Cuba and quoted Obama’s comments on these changes: "I think it's a signal of our good faith that we wanted to move beyond the Cold War mentality that's existed over the last 50 years. And hopefully we'll see some signs that Cuba wants to reciprocate.” The article provided viewers with extensive quotes from Obama explaining his stance on Cuba: “I don't expect Cuba to beg. No one is asking for anyone to beg. What we're looking for is some signal that there are going to be changes in how Cuba operates."

Al Manar also covered sources of disagreement and future tensions between the U.S. and Israel. One article mentioned that the Obama administration is reconsidering its planned boycott of the Durban II Anti-Racism Summit held at the UN. The article pointed out that the Racism Summit is deeply opposed by Israel and that this US action is likely to upset Israel. Al Manar also reported on US envoy George Mitchell’s trip to Israel, saying that Mitchell “pressed the two-state solution” in his meetings with Israeli officials. The article also included Mitchell’s remarks during his time in Morocco, which were described in the following manner “Washington considered the 'creation' of a Palestinian state as the only way forward.” After mentioning Mitchell’s statement the article mentioned that Mitchell’s remarks “could set Israel on a collision course” with the US.

Assassination Plot

2009-04-16T13:03:00.001-07:00

As Bolivian president Evo Morales arrived in Caracas for the ALBA (Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas) summit, Telesur is reporting on the alleged assassination plot against Morales and his vice president, which was foiled after a shoot-out in a Bolivian hotel which left three dead, including two Hungarians and a Bolivian. Telesur's headline: "Evo Morales Denounces International Mercenaries Plot," highlights the theme of foreign intervention in Latin American affairs. The story also refers to an Irish national who was arrested at the hotel.

While reports in the New York Times and elsewhere include similar details about the incident, Telesur's coverage ends on an ideological note. Both on its website and in its daily newscast, Telesur quotes Morales alleging that the mercenaries were supported by elements of the "fascist extreme right". Ahead of the Summit of the Americas, Morales goes on to say that "'it's necessary to do away with capitalism in order to save humanity', something that had already said on Saturday in an exclusive interview to TeleSUR and considered that it was the central theme of the Summit of the Americas, where the people have to decide between this model and socialism...'I agree with the approach of the indigenous and social leaders that capitalism is the enemy of humanity...until we finish with capitalism we can not save humanity,' he added."

Listening Post: AJE's weekly show covering highlights in the global press

2009-04-15T12:17:00.001-07:00

Al Jazeera English's daily program 'Listening Post' is an intriguing overview of the week's international news headlines. The segments are multi-dimensional and cover various aspects of different international news events and broadcasters' coverage:

For example, this week, the main coverage is of President Obama's Europe trip, including an overview on how the French, Turkish, Arab and American press covered his trip. There are interviews with various experts and journalists who comment on how his trip was received in the public, including both praise and skepticism. There is also commentary highlighting Obama not giving interviews to the press during the trip, briefly noting how his first interview as a President was with an Arab broadcaster. Following was 'Global Village Voices', which shows several commentaries submitted by viewers via web video.

The second segment of the show detailed several controversial topics happening throughout the world, including the beating of a 17 year old girl accused of adultery in Pakistan and a story about several Orthodox Jewish newspapers photoshoping out the two women in the Israeli cabinet.

The third segment highlighted the life and press coverage of Jane Goody, the British reality television star who generated mounds of press through her time on the show Big Brother, to her public diagnosis with cancer and up to her funeral. Listening Post thoroughly went through her story, the controversies and skepticism of her fame, Britain's fascination with her life and the debate on how she will be remembered.

Finally, Listening Post wrapped up this week's overview with a YouTube-esque video about Obama and his new Cadillac.

Bias Found in VOA Broadcasts to Iran

2009-04-14T12:06:00.000-07:00

According to Nicholas Kralev's Washington Times article, the State Department investigation has found serious flaws in Voice of America (VOA) broadcasts to Iran. The report charged VOA's Persian News Network (PNN) broadcasts of being politically biased.

Apparently, none of the executive producers even understand Farsi, which means its broadcasts are "aired without high-level approval."

"In part because of the language issue, managing editors report not to the executive producer of their show, but to a Persian-speaking senior executive editor," the report said." This arrangement is the source of confusion and sometimes of conflict. Lacking the language of the programs they oversee, as well as a background in Iranian affairs, executive producers must rely on their managing editor to approve the shows' content and resolve differences of opinion among staff," it said. Those differences often result in deep mistrust and "a perception of cronyism" among the staff, "the operation of cliques, and the hiring and rewarding of unqualified people," which "creates ill will and can hamper the employee's effectiveness in the workplace," the report said.

Over the last decade or so, the U.S. government has increased its spending on broadcasting to Iran, allocating $17 million this year alone, as it considers it an important public diplomacy tool to influence Iranian public opinion.

The BBG's mission, according to its 2008-13 strategic plan, is "to promote freedom and democracy and to enhance understanding through multimedia communication of accurate, objective and balanced news, information, and other programming about America and the world to audiences overseas." But apparently some "anti-American content to creep into broadcasts."

"While everyone involved with the operation is cognizant of the importance of VOA broadcasting to Iran, some of those who work in PNN appear to lack a clear understanding of the mission of PNN and the centrality of the VOA charter to their work, underscoring the need for additional training," the report said.

Mehdi Jedinia, an Iranian journalist, said that "unfortunately, VOA Persian is not making full use of the opportunity to reach Iranians and does not fully reflect U.S. diplomacy toward Iran."
The service "could help influence Iranian public opinion if they created more imaginative programming that fits Iranian circumstances," he said. "However, despite repeated statements by the U.S. government that it has no intention of forcing regime change in Iran, these media seem to support Tehran's allegations that the United States wants to change the Iranian government by financially supporting the opposition, imposing economic sanctions and isolating Iran in the international arena."

He said the service features "interviews with the family of the late shah and Iranian opposition leaders" and sometimes "has superficial and shallow programs that come through more as ideological propaganda, rather than professional journalism."

The State Department report also questioned the continuation of PNN's radio service, "given the round-the-clock broadcasts of Radio Farda," a joint project between VOA and U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which is based in Prague.

Mehdi Khalaji, a Washington Institute fellow and former Radio Farda producer wrote that, "Some of Radio Farda's Prague team members are noticeably anti-American, which can be discerned from their language and the news they choose to produce," and "some Washington team members are well-known for their anti-Islamic stance, their opposition to the Iranian regime," and "they reflect their own political views in news production as well as feature segments," he wrote.

Though the report is not all negative, “VOA successfully built PNN into its first full-fledged network in an extraordinarily short period of time,” said the report. “Given the U.S. strategic interest in communicating with Iranians, PNN represents a major achievement in setting up a network that reaches approximately 29 percent of Iranians in Iran," the report said.

VOA's management welcomed the State Department recommendations.

See the full State department report here.

Morales is headline news

2009-04-14T08:19:00.000-07:00

Today Evo Morales, President of Bolivia, ended his hunger strike to pass a law that will allow Morales to run for the December election, reserve 14 seats in congress for indigenous candidates and allow expatriates to vote.

If you read the New York Times, you will have to search for the term 'Bolivia' in order to get a paragraph from Reuters about the beginning of the strike, posted on April 10th.

CNN you'll find it buried under Latin American news.

On Al Jazeera English - front page.

Here is one example where AJE's mission to be the 'voice of the south' is realized.

Twittering the Passion of Christ

2009-04-10T11:05:00.000-07:00

The use of new media to attract the public is used in a unique way this Good Friday as Trinity Wall Street Episcopal Church twittered the Passion of Christ, the story of the crucifixion. For 3 hours the church posted tweets adapted from the Gospel of Mark into 140 character tweets for an audience of more than 1,700. "The story was largely told through the eyes of six characters: Jesus, Mary, Mary Magdalene, Peter, a serving girl and Pontius Pilate."

"What we are trying to do at Trinity Wall Street is to communicate the story of Christ in as many ways as we can," said Linda Hanick, Trinity's vice president of communication and marketing."

While it may be new to Twitter, Trinity, founded in the 17th century, is not new to the Web. The parish near the World Trade Center site has been streaming events, services and concerts on the Internet since the late 1990s, and last year joined Facebook. Twitter "was kind of the next evolution in communicating the Gospel message," Hanick said. Twitter makes sense for congregations to spread their word, said the Rev. Charles Henderson, a Presbyterian minister and founder of the First Church of Cyberspace, GodWeb.org. Twitter has 10 million users, according to ComScore, an Internet market research firm.

The elusive CIA report predicts Israels demise.

2009-04-09T23:39:00.000-07:00

According to a PressTV report, the CIA conducted a study that "cast doubt over Israel's survival beyond the next 20 years."

The CIA report predicts "an inexorable movement away from a two-state to a one-state solution, as the most viable model based on democratic principles of full equality that sheds the looming specter of colonial Apartheid while allowing for the return of the 1947/1948 and 1967 refugees. The latter being the precondition for sustainable peace in the region."

After having searched for this report online, I have found nothing except for blogs citing this Press TV article and others attacking it's supposed author, international lawyer Franklin Lamb who is one of the few who has seen the actual report.

The study, which has been made available only to a certain number of individuals, further forecasts the return of all Palestinian refugees to the occupied territories, and the exodus of two million Israeli - who would move to the US in the next fifteen years.

According to Lamb, the CIA report "alludes to the unexpectedly quick fall of the apartheid government in South Africa and recalls the disintegration of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, suggesting the end to the dream of an 'Israeli land' would happen 'way sooner' than later."

The study further predicts the return of over one and a half million Israelis to Russia and other parts of Europe, and denotes a decline in Israeli births whereas a rise in the Palestinian population.

And apparently, "some members of the US Senate Intelligence Committee have been informed of the report." Interesting that PressTV is the only media that picked up this story. No word of it on NYT or any other media source. What is Jewish Chronicle's Oliver Kamm (a former PressTV guest) have to say about this?

Press TV has excelled itself by running a story that no reputable news outlet had reported: a supposed CIA study predicting the collapse of Israel within 20 years. The only authority cited for this study was “international lawyer Franklin Lamb”. Lamb is a political activist described by Hizbollah’s TV station in Lebanon as “persistent in his support for the just cause of the Lebanese people’s resistance”.

Al Manar: Warming Up To Obama

2009-04-09T11:23:00.000-07:00

While Al Manar's collection of op-ed stories writen by Western sources still include sharp critiques of American policy, Al Manar’s coverage of Obama’s recent actions indicate that Al Manar's approves of the changing direction of American foreign policy. The current links to op-eds on Al Manar’s news homepage include a story from Amnesty International criticizing American arms shipments to Israel as well as a sharp critique of America’s hypocrisy on nuclear capabilities, contrasting America’s stances on the nuclear capabilities of North Korea and Israel.However, Al Manar’s own coverage of the Obama administration indicates a thaw in Al Manar’s stance on the US. Al Manar’s coverage of Obama was favorable and at the same time, indicated that the Obama administration relations with Israel are deteriorating while its relations Middle Eastern nations improve.

On Television, Al Manar’s coverage of Obama’s visit to Iraq reported on Obama’s commitment to withdraw US forces as well as Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s gratitude at Obama’s readiness to help Iraq. Online, Al Manar's coverage of Obama's visit to Turkey also had a positive tone, mentioning Obama's statements about improving relations with Muslim nations such as "we will listen carefully, bridge misunderstanding... We will be respectful, even when we do not agree." The article also mentioned Obama's strong support of Turkey's bid to join the EU as well as Obama's dedication to a two-state solution.

In addition to covering Obama's travels to Middle Eastern nations and suggesting improved relations with Muslim nations, Al Manar tried to emphasize the differences between Obama and the new Israeli government. Al Manar reported that the Obama administration is ready for a possible confrontation with Israeli leadership. While mentioning Obama’s commitment to the security of Israel, the article also reported that Obama has made it clear that his administration is dedicated to a two-state solution, despite statements made by Israeli officials. The article hinted that relations between the US and Israel are deteriorating by using words that evoke conflict: the title of the article is “Obama Team Readying for Clash with Netanyahu, Lieberman,” and the article also says that the “US hits back at Lieberman: the goal is two states.” Additionally, the article mentions that that neither Obama nor Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu have made plans to visit one another.

Another article on Al Manar’s website reported on US Vice President Biden’s warning to Israel not to attack Iran, which featured Biden’s statement that Israel would be “ill-advised” to attack Iran and also mentioned the Obama administration’s willingness to launch a new dialogue with Iran. The stance of the Obama administration was contrasted with that of the Israeli government, as the article mentions that Biden’s warning to Israel was in response to Netanyahu referring to the Iranian government as "sophisticated and devious" in their ability to hide their nuclear program from the world. I believe that Al Manar's coverage emphasizes conflict and declining US-Israeli relations because this is important prerequisite to improved perceptions of Obama for Al Manar's audience.

Revolution in Moldova sparked by Twitter.

2009-04-08T10:46:00.000-07:00

According the NYT, on Tuesday, more than 10,000 young Moldovans gathered out of nowhere to protest against Moldova’s Communist leadership. According to the report, the crowed ransacked government buildings and clashing with the police.

The riot of young people "reflected the deep generation gap that has developed in Moldova, and the protesters used their generation’s tools, gathering the crowd by enlisting text-messaging, Facebook and Twitter, the social messaging network."

The protesters created their own searchable tag on Twitter, rallying Moldovans to join and propelling events in this small former Soviet state onto a Twitter list of newly popular topics, so people around the world could keep track.

Apparently, the riot was quite strong as reports say "the seat of government had been badly battered and scores of people had been injured." Though, riot police did regain control of the president’s offices and Parliament the next day.

"After hundreds of firsthand accounts flooded onto the Internet via Twitter, Internet service in Chisinau, the capital, was abruptly cut off"

“Moldova is like a sealed jar, and youth want more access to Europe,” he said. “Everyone knows that Moldova is the smallest, poorest and the most disgraceful country. And youth are talking about how they want freedom, Europe and a different life.” Young people have increasingly used the Internet to mobilize politically; cellphones and text messages helped swell protests in Ukraine in 2004, and in Belarus in 2006.

Connection through music

2009-04-08T01:48:00.000-07:00

Imagine a teenager, awake late at night, flipping through infomercials and talk shows on TV. In an alternate universe, if Al Jazeera English were a cable channel in North America, the teenager would be able to watch Richard Gizbert's show Playlist, a show that highlights bands from around the world, exploring how the bands came to be and their influence within their countries and worldwide.

Tonight, a teenager would have gotten insight on rock bands Junoon and Mizraab from Pakistan and seen examples of how traditional and modern forms of music are continually being combined by musicians from this country, creating a new style of music.

Although there is a strong debate on the validity of media effects, a simple question should be posed in relation to the fact that a television show, such as the one described above, does not happen in North America. How would the public reception of political relations with Pakistan change after watching different portrayals of people's lives in Pakistan? Would more commonalities, such as musical interests, be realized, connecting people across countries? How would these potential possible effects impact the reasoning behind not allowing an Al Jazeera English channel?

Media Crackdown?

2009-04-07T15:28:00.000-07:00

On the blog Caracas Chronicles Quico (Francisco Toro) points out that this week may be significant in the Chavez government’s potential move from what he has described as an autocratic regime to something that may begin to look more like a dictatorial regime. In the last week, the Chavez government has stepped up prosecutions against prominent members of the opposition, and particularly against opposition media. The government has put increasing pressure on satellite network Globovision, and threatened prosecution of well-respected opposition blogger Teodoro Petkoff, based on an inheritance tax case dug up from the 1970s.

While Telesur hasn’t mentioned Petkoff in its coverage yet, it has aired stories about Globovision and about former General Raul Baduel- who was arrested last week on alleged corruption charges. Baduel had been Chavez’ defense minister, before resigning to join the opposition. Baduel is being charged with theft and embezzlement during his time as defense minister. Finally, another opposition leader who has long been a target of the Chavez government, Maracaibo mayor Manuel Rosales, has gone into hiding after corruption charges were made against him last month.

As Quico points out, if the Chavez government continues what seems to be a coordinated effort to root out the opposition it could mark a significant change. Thus far, while the Chavez government has been critical of what it calls “private media,” it has maintained a certain level of media freedom. Through projects like Telesur in particular, the Chavez government has mostly focused on trying to strengthen state media, rather than cracking down on opposition voices. If the recent prosecutions are any indication, the Chavez government may be planning to tighten control over Venezuelan media and take yet another step toward authoritarian rule.

YOU@Press TV

2009-04-02T23:22:00.000-07:00

Along with its new look, Presstv.com has a new Me@PressTV features. With the MyVoice page that poses topics to viewers such;

"On the first day of the new Iranian year, US President Barack Obama sent a massage to the Iranian nation and leaders as a gesture of reconciliation. Iran, however, said it would modify its policies toward the United States based on Washington's practical steps not talks. Are the two countries on the path to thawing their relations after nearly three decades? Is Obama's overture to Iran genuine or is it a tactic to exert more pressure on the Islamic Republic"

Allowing visitors to comment. Another feature Thru My Eyes will allow viewers to most photos on the site.

Press TV is planning to make its web site more interactive and provide an opportunity for the audience to contribute to its contents. The My Voice (Press TV forums) and Thru My Eyes sections which have been designed to allow the web site's visitors to engage in debates and share their news photos will be launched in a near future.

So far it seems more like a soap box for a few enthusiastic contributors but it is clear PressTV.com is hoping that its more 2.0 image will invite more traffic. I guess this remains to be seen.

Sudan: Still in the Spotlight

2009-04-02T15:38:00.001-07:00

Al Manar’s coverage of Sudan continued this week. Al Manar continued to cover Sudanese President Al-Bashir’s "defiance" via his travels abroad, reporting on his visits to Qatar for the Arab League Summit, Saudi Arabia for a pilgrimage to Mecca, and Libya for a meeting with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. In addition to covering Al-Bashir’s travel itinerary, Al Manar also ran a story today about the US envoy to Sudan's visit to Khartoum and quoted the envoy, Scott Gration who said

"I come here with my hands open and it would be up to the Sudanese government to determine how they want to continue with that relationship.”

The article was brief but conveyed that the US government is eager for stronger ties with its Sudanese counterpart. Al Manar also reported the Sudanese government’s announcements that Sudan will hold its first general election in 24 years in February 2010. While the article did mention that the election was supposed to be held in 2009, it's tone attempted to provide the Sudanese government with more legitimacy as a regime dedicated to peace and progress.

In addition to reporting on actions taken by Sudanese leadership, Al Manar continued to cover leaders' rejection of Al-Bashir's indictment. For instance, in its coverage of the 2nd annual Arab-South American Summit, which was similar to Telasur’s coverage, Al Manar focused on Arab and South America’s rejection of Al-Bashir’s warrant, quoting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who referred to the ICC as "a judicial horror and a disrespect to the people of the Third World."

Al Manar also covered a meeting held for Arab foreign ministers in preparation for the Arab Summit where the ministers called for the annulment of Al-Bashir’s arrest warrant and urged Arab nations not to cooperate with the ICC. The Arab League's Secretary General said that the ICC’s case against Al-Bashir “shows the use of double standards” and called for objectivity from regional institutions such as the Arab League and African Union.

Format impacting perception

2009-04-02T10:18:00.000-07:00

Visual format is an important element to consider when analyzing today's internet landscape. For braodcasters, different styles of formatting headlines and stories are used in order to cater to different types of readers and shape the way their information is viewed and (potentially) interpreted. This simple observation can be applied when looking at the difference between CNN's format of G-20 coverage versus Al-Jazeera English's formatting of their G-20 coverage.

CNN
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2009/news/g20.summit/

Al-Jazeera English
http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/the2009g20londonsummit/

Questions to be answered about the visual presence include: What type of audience are the broadcasters attracting/ catering to? How does each format invite different reading styles? How do the formats implement or not implement Web 2.0?

Frost, Al Jazeera, ITV & BBC

2009-04-02T10:14:00.000-07:00

Guardian 'Media Monkey' reported:

Frost scotches ITV/al-Jazeera rumours - with an even better rumour
'It's not easy being Sir David Frost, winner of the Harvey Lee award for outstanding
contribution to broadcasting. It's not that you haven't got any stories to tell – he's got a
million of 'em, from Nixon, to Denis Thatcher to Loyd Grossman – although he doesn't tell
many about the latter. It's just that he's probably told quite a few of them before. But he
had a brand new one today, putting to bed those rumours linking one of his current
employers, al-Jazeera, with a bid for ITV. "There have been a lot of reports that al-Jazeera
is planning a bid for ITV," said Frost, juggling his audience in the palm of his hand. "I can
assure you that there are no truth in those rumours. It's the BBC they are bidding for."'

Voice of the South

2009-04-01T13:19:00.001-07:00

While the Western media has been intensely focused on the G20 talks in Europe recently, Telesur has been covering another summit which has been virtually ignored by Western broadcasters. The 2nd Arab-South American Summit in Doha took place this week, with stories running on Telesur about the creation of a binational Venezuelan-Iranian bank, defiance from Arab leaders in particular about the arrest warrant issued for Sudanese Presdient Bashir, and Chavez’ typically flamboyant call for the arrest of former President Bush and Israeli President Shimon Peres on genocide charges.

The headlines from Doha this week read like a menu of Telesur’s anti-hegemonic themes: anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist, defiant about human rights charges, and calling for greater solidarity and integration both between South American and Arab countries, and also regionally within Latin America and the Arab world. The summit was originally proposed by Brazlian Presdient Lula and the first one was held in 2005. The summit concluded with an 11-point declaration emphasizing “south-south cooperation” and weighing in about major political issues like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the crisis in Darfur.

Al Manar Responds to Obama's Plan for Afghanistan

2009-03-27T12:33:00.000-07:00

Today, coinciding with Obama’s announcement about his new plan for Afghanistan, Al Manar added a number of opinion pieces highly critical of the United States to its news homepage. These articles are both critical of US involvement in Afghanistan thus far as well as critical of US past actions and treatment of Muslim communities. All of these critical articles are written by Western authors, predominantly American liberals.

Among the new articles is a call to indict Dick Cheney for war crimes by Matthew Rothschild, who is the editor of American political magazine The Progressive as well as an article about Obama’s manipulative control over Afghan President Karzai by Ron Jacobs from the website antiwar.com. Additionally, there is an article by Canadian research institute Global Research detailing how the Western presence in Afghanistan is both failing and expanding, and a piece from the Christian Science Monitor about deteriorating relations between the FBI and American Muslim communities.

As for Al Manar’s own coverage of Obama’s plan for Afghanistan is less notable. The stories provide quotes from Obama as well as American officials and note that the governments in Pakistan and Afghanistan have welcomed Obama’s plan to root out extremists.It is interesting that Al Manar has thus far refrained from criticizing Obama’s strategy regarding Afghanistan but instead allowed proxy communicators to provide critical information. This critical information is not directly addressing Obama’s new plan but instead looks at America’s past efforts in the Middle East, as well as the Bush administration’s legacy of human rights abuses and tensions with Muslims. I believe that the op-ed articles are consistent with Al Manar's spirit of resistence to Western dominance and attempt to cast American presence in the Middle East in a negative light. Al Manar is trying to shape audience response to Obama's plan indirectly by providing the audience with stories reminding readers of American misteps in the Middle East and mistreatment of Muslims on American soil.

Al Jazeera Global Distribution

2009-03-27T11:31:00.001-07:00

Today several sites have reported Al Jazeera's global distribution of programming, which includes over 50 hours from Al Jazeera English's documentary strand Witness, the Arabic-language content includes Al Jazeera Documentary Channel's four-part documentary "Arab Christians" and, from the Al Jazeera Satellite Channel, "The PLO" - a 13-part documentary looking at the creation, establishment and existence of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation.

As the push of Al Jazeera, particularly the English station, for a more global audience continues, specifically in North America, there are several interesting aspects surrounding their initiatives, like the global distribution one above:

1.) The availability of high quality content is always an issue in broadcasting, whether it be news, in-depth investigating, entertainment, etc. In content distribution networks and companies, there is always a HUGE competition for dynamic content because it is often so scarce. In the wake of newspapers crashing, foreign news bureaus, both print and broadcast, being closed left and right, the footage made available by Al Jazeera should logically be in very high demand.

2.) As a "conciliatory media" (el-Nawawy & Powers, 2008), AJ pro-actively promotes a free-flow of ideas, as seen through their Creative Commons Repository. This is where Al Jazeera video footage is free and open for the public to use under special licensing. The concept of a creative commons promotes the theory of an open use of content in order to spur a dynamic flow and layering of new creativity. This approach steps away from the stringent, stifling and prevalent copyright paradigm running rampant in every creative industry today.

Founder of the creative commons, Lawrence Lessig sees Al Jazeera's efforts as, "teaching an important lesson about how free speech gets built and supported. By providing a free resource for the world, the network is encouraging wider debate, and a richer understanding." This seems to align with el-Nawawy and Power's exploration of how Al Jazeera "[opens] new venues for freedom of expression and [provides] a platform for dialogue", making it a broadcaster that is interactive with audiences rather than a one-way stream of information.

So why won't North American cable companies engage in this creative commons?

In a news environment that screams for more and more content, a connection with AJA & AJE seems like a sound business move. Al Jazeera was the only broadcaster in Gaza when it was under siege. And the audience not wanting Al Jazeera English is a fallacy in many respects. From November to January, during the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, the Web audience for Al Jazeera English shot up 22 per cent, 600 per cent when it came to video reports. (Vue Weekly)

So, using this blog to rant a little, my question to the North American broadcasters reading this is:

Why? Why not? Why not open up the airwaves to Al Jazeera?

Al-Bashir Joins the Resistance

2009-03-25T23:26:00.000-07:00

Al Manar has continued its coverage of Sudanese President Al-Bashir, reporting on his travels to other African nations as “defiance.”
On March 23rd, Al Manar covered Al-Bashir’s first trip outside of Sudan for a one-day visit to Eritrea. A similar story ran today about Al-Bashir’s trip to Cairo and meeting with Egyptian President Mubarak.

The articles shared a similar format. Both articles first featured quotes from the host nations about the illegitimacy of the ICC indictment. The story about All-Bashir’s visit to Egypt quoted Egypt’s foreign minister who said that many Arab and African states do not support ICC proceedings and that Egypt and Sudan must work together to

“secure the humanitarian situation in Darfur, so as not to allow any foreign party to claim that there is a humanitarian crisis in Darfur."

Similarly, the story on Al-Bashir’s visit to Eritrea featured the following quote from an Eritrean government document:

"The drama being orchestrated by the so-called ICC amply demonstrates the anti-people stance and defamatory conspiracy on the part of external forces. Eritrea sees the decision by the ICC as irresponsible and as an insult to the intelligence of African countries."

The articles then also quoted Sudanese officials who said that Al-Bashir’s ventures outside of Sudan were a deliberate show of defiance and that Al-Bashir would continue to travel to African, Arab and Asian countries. While both articles mention the charges Al-Bashir is facing, neither offers any details which would give the charges any credibility in the eyes of the reader.

Al Manar’s reporting equates Al-Bashir’s travel abroad with acts of defiance. As mentioned previously , I believe the repeated appearance of the word defiance in Al Manar’s coverage of Al-Bashir’s response to his indictment is meant to frame Al-Bashir as someone to be admired for his resistance to Western dominance. This notion of resistance is very important in Al Manar and Hezbollah’s rhetoric and I believe Al Manar is trying to frame Al-Bashir as part of this greater struggle against Western oppression in order to garner sympathy and admiration from its audience.

Report from the front: receiving int'l broadcasting in Stockholm, SE

2009-03-23T14:51:00.000-07:00

Sitting in a Best Western hotel room in Stockholm, Sweden, the following int'l broadcasting channels are available on TV: BBC World, CNN, AlJazera English.

Where to put MTV, Discovery, Eurosport, and ESPN America, which are also there?

Let's not forget channel 6, broadcasting American shows in English with no subtitles -- VIP's on at 8:00, and Knight Rider comes on at 8:30.

Where do we draw the line?

Cartoons...on IRINN

2009-03-22T15:01:00.000-07:00

It is time for another post about cartoons! I have yet to see cartoons broadcast by IRINN while watching their television broadcast or on their online site. However, after doing some research, I was able to find some old cartoons that IRINN had shown on previous television broadcasts. After viewing many cartoons, it becomes evident that the cartoons are mainly political in nature with a negative take on U.S. foreign policy. Here are two of their cartoons, one titled "Bush is Lying to the World" and the other "Media as Bush Weapon":

Nowrooz on IRINN

2009-03-21T17:03:00.000-07:00

Since we have mentioned Nowrooz a few times, I thought I would display some of IRINN's coverage of the holiday. Nowrooz is an ancient Persian pre-Islamic holiday that marks the first day of Spring - or new year, that Iranians across Iran celebrate every year. IRINN marked Nowrooz with a broadcast on television and online.

IRINN's online site had a page dedicated to Nowrooz titled "Spring has come", with pictures of flowers and traditional haft seen's (7 S's) in Iran:

Khamenei Responds to Obama's Nowrooz Overture

2009-03-21T13:36:00.001-07:00

The Nowrooz ("New Day") message President Obama directed to Iran for the Persian New Year has not been shown on IRINN or IRIB. Many international broadcasters and outlets are waiting to see whether or not IRIB or IRINN will show Obama's message. It seems that it will not be shown. Instead Iranians in Iran will have to look up the message online or on Persian-language satellite programming from abroad, as The Washington Post reported:

Iranian woman Marzieh Masaebi watches a TV video showing US President Barack Obama's new video message addressed to the Iranian people, and broadcast from the Tapesh Farsi-language satellite TV beamed in from the United States, at her home in Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 20, 2009. Obama released the video to coincide with the major Iranian festival of Nowruz, a 12-day holiday that marks the arrival of spring and the beginning of the new year in Iran. Iran authorities played down Obama's video message saying it welcomed the overtures while warning that decades of mistrust can't easily be erased. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) (Vahid Salemi - AP)

Today, however, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei responded to Obama's message. IRINN reported that thousands of people gathered in Mashaad, Iran today to listen to Khamenei. The Iranian leader said that U.S. policy towards Iran has remained the same as it has been in the last 30 years and "as long as these policies do not change, then Iran will not change its policies." IRIB reported Khamenei as saying: "Has your enmity with the Iranian nation ended? Have you released the Iranian assets or cut the sanctions? Have you quit negative propaganda against Iran? Have you ended your absolute support to the Zionist regime?"

So far, CNN, BBC, and other sources have reported on the Iranian response, citing the upcoming elections in Iran as an important element effecting rhetoric.

Leader pardons 905 prisoners

2009-03-20T16:01:00.000-07:00

A top story in the Iran section of Press TV the "leader of the Islamic Revolution" Ayatollah Kamenei has pardoned "nearly 1,000" prisoners sentenced by Iranian courts. The story doesn't say much more than that. With the Iranian Presidential election coming up, it will be wise to keep a lookout for stories on Press TV trying to play up good things happening in the country so that conservative incumbent Ahmadinijad gets reelected. This tactic is used in the US as well, such as when gas prices go down around reelection time. Speaking of the Iranian election, a new section can be found on Press TV entitled Iran's Election 2009. Not as catchy as the catch phrases US international broadcasters came up with during the US elections but it looks like Press TV is trying to drawn in more world wide attention to the campaign.

PressTV: Obama scores points with Iran message

2009-03-20T15:43:00.000-07:00

In a video released today, President Obama sent a message to Iranians wishing them "Eideh shoma mobarak" or happy Persian new year. Friday marked Nowruz which is the Persian New Year.

"I would like to speak directly to the people and leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Nowruz is just one part of your great and celebrated culture. Over many centuries your art, your music, literature and innovation have made the world a better and more beautiful place," he said.

Calling Nowruz a time of 'new beginnings', President Obama charged Iran with a new beginning of its own, revamping the relationship between it and Iran. Obama said his administration was committed to 'diplomacy' with Iran, promising to pursue 'constructive ties' with the Islamic Republic. He mentioned that the US policy 'will not be advanced by threats', insisting Washington seeks 'engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect'.

PressTV's report on the message stated that "Obama's direct message to Iran, however, reverberated with the rhetoric of the Bush era." Citing Obamas statement;

"You too have a choice. The United States wants the Islamic Republic of Iran to take its rightful place in the community of nations. You have that right -- but it comes with real responsibilities, and that place cannot be reached through terror or arms, but rather through peaceful actions that demonstrate the true greatness of the Iranian people and civilization."

According to Press TV, "Iranian officials say they welcome the idea of talks based on 'mutual respect', urging a 'real' shift of policy in the US administration and not a change in tactics." Then the story mentions that "last week, President Obama extended for another year sanctions imposed against Iran under Bill Clinton in 1995."

Another front page story announces that Obama's remarks are "a significant departure from the tone of the previous administration, were well-received around the globe."

"European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he hoped the Obama initiative would "open a new chapter in relations with Iran." France and Germany both welcomed the offer of an olive branch.
'We have been waiting for years for the Americans to re-engage in the Iranian issue,' French President Nicolas Sarkozy said. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the message 'reflects exactly the message the Europeans have been trying to send to Iran. 'Russia also welcomed Obama's decision to renew dialogue with Tehran. "

"Although Iranian leaders are yet to respond to the message, an aide to President Ahmadinejad welcomed 'the wish of the president of the United States to put away the past differences. If Mr. Obama takes concrete action and makes fundamental changes in US foreign policy towards other nations, including Iran, the Iranian government and people won't turn their back on him,' Ali-Akbar Javanfekr told Press TV."

Iran Unblocks Facebook and YouTube

2009-03-16T15:48:00.000-07:00

Iran blocked the popular social networking site, Facebook in 2006, saying it was "illegal." They also blocked YouTube. But in February, Tehran unblocked both sites. Since then, the site’s Iranian membership has been growing making Facebook is the 10th most popular website in Iran.

28 year-old Hashemi, a member of Iran’s largest pro-reform student group, Daftar Tahkim Vahdat, which is a regular target of pressure from the state, says this has opened new avenues for discussion of human rights and other political passions.

"Given the fact that I’m a political and social activist, I’m also attracted to human rights issues when I’m on Facebook," Hashemi says. "I join causes that support human rights and democracy, or those that protest against human rights violations in Iran."

Iran is known for banning dissenting media.The international media watchdog, Reporters Without Borders, states that Iran has the highest number of journalists in jail in the entire Middle East.

"Iranian officials have offered no explanation for why they decided to restore access to Facebook -- or why they moved to block it in the first place. Christophe Ginisty is the president of the French group Internet Without Borders, which promotes freedom of expression online. He says some governments with a history of Internet censorship choose to open some sites not to improve their image, but to gain a surreptitious toehold in an online community frequented by political opponents and activists. "During election periods, as in the case of Iran, it allows the government to give the impression that it is offering more freedom," Ginisty says. "But that’s absolutely not what’s happening, because the first thing that happens following an opening is that filters and controls are established. It means that they reopen Facebook when they have the possibility to put people in place who can control it. Hadi Nili is a Tehran-based journalist who specializes in social and information technology issues. The Iranian government may have opted to unblock Facebook as a way to better monitor the actions of journalists, who have flocked to Facebook in droves. Nili also speculates that the unblocking of Facebook and YouTube could be a way for the government to win the support of young voters ahead of presidential elections in June."

I found out about this via a EurasiaNet. org article. It has not been reported by PressTV. I think it is safe to say that this won't be a permanent thing.

Iran's Top Story is John Stewart

2009-03-13T16:00:00.001-07:00

Millions of Americans watched the The Daily Show's Jon Stewart's showdown with CNBC's Jim Cramer but apparently Iran was tuning in as well... or at least the PressTV foreign corespondents. One of the Press TV top stories was reporting just that.

In a series of pointed verbal barbs, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart's funnyman has taken Cramer and his cable network employer, CNBC, to task by claiming they were "in bed" with Wall Street executives and former government officials.

"I understand you want to make finance entertaining, but it's not a fu**ing game," Stewart said during a recorded interview, segments of which aired on Thursday night.

During the face-off with Stewart, however, Cramer appeared contrite.

Stewart accused analysts -- including Cramer -- of betraying average people who trusted financial advisors and poured money into market-oriented accounts for the long term only to lose their money and allow Wall Street to use those savings to generate short-term profits.

If you missed the episode, feel free to watch it here. I wonder why they didn't pick up the story on the Colbert Report, which comes on right after, about Iranian New Year, and Ahmadinijad's involuntary endorsement of American-Jewish products.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Mahmoud's Non-Consensual Endorsement Deal

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Political Humor

Rap Battle
NASA Name Contest

Russia Today Round Up - March 12, 2009

2009-03-12T23:50:00.000-07:00

More headlines from RT. Trend? Anyone? Bueller? Same as before, click on the date for story/video.

(3.12) It's time to shut down U.S. bases abroad

(3.12) One in fifty U.S. children are homeless

(3.12) Obama is pushing U.S. economy downhill

(3.12) 'American syndrome' hits Europe (about recent school shootings in Germany)

RT also hosts a collection of blogs. Here is a recent post from a RT blog entitled Untimely Thoughts:

(3.13) The curious case of Hilary's button. Peter Lavelle writes,

It seems to me that the new administration in Washington still doesn't see Russia to be all that important - it is deemed as a problematic country only to be dealt with. But all the same there is the recognition that not much can be done on many global issues without Russia's engagement and help. Viewed from the Potomac, Russia remains a bridesmaid. This is a huge mistake inherited not from the George Bush administration - look further back to Bill Clinton's time in office to understand this. I must admit I remain sceptical. I have no doubt there was an obvious and embarrassing translation error made when Clinton gave the button to Lavrov. But I can't but help sense that the same tried and failed policies toward Russia remain in play. The "reload" translation is somehow not serendipity. For almost 20 years, Republican, Democratic, Republican - and now again Democratic administrations have continued the same ritual.

Online coverage pushes AJE to the top

2009-03-12T14:04:00.000-07:00

In an article yesterday on Foreign Policy in Focus, John Feffer discusses the heated 'war online' between Israeli and Palestinian bloggers, commenters, YouTubers and hackers. Accounting for all different sides, one of the most interesting observations is the overwhelming popularity of Al Jazeera English's online viewership.

"Al Jazeera benefited most from the large audience drawn from Twitter links and Facebook
groups. The Qatar-based network reported a 600% hike in hits from its online video stream
during the fighting. Al Jazeera's English station, while unavailable to most cable subscribers
in the U.S., drew significantly more viewers through the internet: in January, visitors to
YouTube watched more clips from Al Jazeera English than from any other English news
station."

Despite the fact that it still may not be carried on North American cable or satellite, with the amount of coverage of Middle Eastern affairs, particularly the Israeli-Palestine conflict, Al Jazeera English's online presence may be the only thing necessary to catapult it to number one.

Russia Today Round Up - March 11, 2008

2009-03-11T11:48:00.000-07:00

There is a trend to recent RT headlines. I'll let you decide what narrative their editors are trying to weave.

Note: Click on dates for articles/videos.

(3.11) U.S. saying one thing, doing another
(3.11) From Guantanamo inmate, to Taliban militant leader
(3.10) After 9/11, Russia helped the U.S. more than any other country.
(3.10) Russia has no imperial ambitions
(3.09) The collapse of America is unavoidable
(3.04) Some Americans still stuck with Cold War mentality

Just for fun:

(3.10) Reindeer industry braces for downturn as export orders slump

Hollywood Delegation in Iran, Part Deux!

2009-03-10T13:40:00.000-07:00

Here is a report by CNN on the Hollywood delegations visit to Iran, the first of its kind since the Revolution in 1979. It mentions the two Iranian government officials asking for an apology for certain Hollywood films in an interview with delegation member Sidney Ganis - President of the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences. Once again, even though television broadcasters IRINN and IRIB failed to mention this delegation or the request for an apology, four online Iranian news sources have reported on it so far: Tehran Times, ISNA, Ayand News, and Press TV. Perhaps it speaks to distinctive agendas for state news on television vs. online.

"Media and the Economy" Conference in Iran

2009-03-09T21:48:00.000-07:00

The third conference on "Media and the Economy" was held in Tehran, Iran on Monday. It was a one day conference attended by President Ahmadinejad and Mr. Zargami, the head of Iran's state media. IRINN reported that Mr. Zargami said that the country is at a very sensitive historical turning point, where certain lagging sectors of the economy need to be strengthened in order to move towards a bigger economy. Interestingly, Mr. Zargami also said that this approach was supported by the Leader of the Revolution (Khameinei).

The overall message of the conference was that political and side issues should not be brought to the table when discussing the economy. And that the focus needs to be on the economy alone and this is a responsibility experts and of the media. The media should talk about the ideas and opinions of experts, to be supportive and bring attention to the lagging sectors of the economy.

This conference was not mentioned by other broadcasters outside Iran, except for China View:

"At a seminar on media and economy, Ahmadinejad said he believed Iranian scientists possess the capability to do so and called on them to start working on a global economic models based on ethical and humanitarian values.

'The Iranian scientists would focus on schemes leading to elimination of poverty,' Ahmadinejad

said, hoping that 'Iranian scientists would embark on the task the soonest possible.'

Ahmadinejad's statements come amid the domestic concerns over the steady rise of the country's inflation since he took office in summer 2005."

The Peregruzka Gaffe

2009-03-09T17:41:00.000-07:00

From RT:

Before their two-hour meeting on Friday, things got off to a rather comical start as Clinton handed her Russian counterpart a small gift box that was wrapped up in green paper and a green ribbon. With the reporters looking on in suspense, Lavrov unwrapped the gift and produced a red reset button fixed to a bright yellow box, symbolic of Vice President Joe Biden’s memorable pledge to “hit the reset button” on US relations with Russia. But there was one small glitch.

Unfortunately, the American side had attached the word “peregruzka” on the makeshift device as the Russian translation for the word reset. Lavrov could not resist a lighthearted remark on the oversight. “You’ve got it wrong,” Lavrov commented with a smile. He then explained that the words the Americans chose –“peregruzka” meant “overloaded” as opposed to “reset” (The correct choice of word should have been ‘perezagruzka’). But the Russian minister nevertheless thanked Clinton for the warm intentions.

Hat tip to the The Cable who picked up on this earlier today.

Chavez invites Obama to 'path of socialism'

2009-03-09T16:25:00.000-07:00

Press TV reports that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has called upon the US President Barack Obama to follow the path to socialism, which he termed as "the only way."

The Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez

"Come with us, align yourself, come with us on the road to socialism. This is the only path. Imagine a socialist revolution in the United States," Chavez told a group of workers in the southern Venezuelan state of Bolivar on Friday.

This is just one of many stories PressTV publishes about Chavez, devoting an entire section of news to Venezuela. Not surprising as Iran sees Chavez as an ally in the region.

"That murderous, genocidal empire has to end, and some day there has to come a leader ... who interprets the best of a people who also include human beings who suffer, endure, weep and laugh," the outspoken Chavez said.

One Cartoon Deserves Another

2009-03-09T15:18:00.000-07:00

Like Al Manar, Telesur runs political cartoons on its website regularly. Lately there’s been a running theme about a kind of villainous capitalist, poisoning the world economy through greed and corruption. Generally, the ‘villain’ is heavyset, dressed in black and, in the most recent cartoon (left) he’s got a big nose and sharp fangs. The caption reads “This one is mine” and shows the cigar-chomping capitalist cutting down ‘wages’- the branch he’s sitting on- not realizing apparently that he’s gonna go down with it.

Mossad linked to 9/11 attacks

2009-03-09T15:12:00.000-07:00

According to a recent Press TV article, there is new "proof" that Israel's Mossad was linked to the September 11th attacks on the US. In citing American Free Press, Press TV reports that the cousin of alleged 9/11 hijacker Ziad al-Jarrah was in fact working as a longtime Mossad agent, which according to Press TV "is proof that Israel had a hand in the terror attacks on US soil."

"Al-Jarrah reportedly admitted that he had been conducting covert espionage activities against Palestinian groups and the Lebanese Hezbollah since 1983."

"Israeli connections to 9/11, according to the New York Times, can be traced back to the five 'dancing Israelis' who were witnessed jumping and high-fiving with shouts of 'joy and mockery' as Flight 11 and Flight 175 slammed into the World Trade Center in New York."

I couldn't find such an article that talked about these "joyous Jews" but did find an NYT article from Sept. 13th that said the following;

The New York Times reported Thursday that a group of five men had set up video cameras aimed at the Twin Towers prior to the attack on Tuesday, and were seen congratulating one another afterwards.

I did, however, find a Harretz article to corroborated this claim. The Press TV article went on to say;

All the [intelligence services] of America and Europe ... now know well that the disastrous attack has been planned by the CIA and the Mossad in order to put under accusation the Arabic countries and in order to induce the western powers to take part ... in Iraq [and] Afghanistan," the Italian ex-premier was quoted by Corriere della Sera as saying.

"Jewish personnel working at the center were reportedly advised to skip work on September 11, 2001." (Press TV)
His argument was further strengthened by leaked reports that employees of Israeli telecom firm Odigo -- which provides instant messaging services -- received a warning two hours before the attacks on the World Trade Towers and forewarned Jews to stay away from work that day.

Accepting the fact that the CIA and Israel was behind the Sept. 11th attacks on the U.S. may seem like a far fetched idea to many westerners, but apparently this is not an uncommon belief in the Arab world. A recent study conducted by World Public Opinion.org demonstrates the prominence of this idea. In this study, respondents in Arab countries were asked “Who do you think was behind the 9/11 attacks?” and responded in open-ended fashion, without options being provided. The second most frequent answer was that the US government was behind the attacks: Turkey (36%), followed by the Palestinian territories (27%), Jordan (17%), Egypt (13%), Indonesia (11%) and Azerbaijan (5%). And the third most common answer was Israel, cited by Jordanians (31%), Palestinians (19%), Egyptians (17%), and small numbers of Azerbaijanis (6%), Pakistanis (4%), Indonesians (3%), and Turks (3%).

Among seven nations, only in Azerbaijan did the majority of respondents name al Qaeda or "Islamic extremists or militants" and many respondents did not give an answer to this question.

The Case of the Disappearing Cartoon

2009-03-08T22:38:00.000-07:00

In an earlier post, I reviewed Al Manar’s online gallery of political cartoons. The cartoons express Hezbollah's political stance and some embody Hezbollah's criticisms of Israel and Western-dominated organizations such as the UN. The cartoon on the left appeared several days ago in the Caricature gallery and is the most emotionally charged image I have come across in the archives of political cartoons. Within hours of coming to my attention, the cartoon was taken down and replaced with the cartoon below, clearly a less dramatic criticism of Israel. Yesterday, however, the cartoon reappeared. I think it is noteworthy that Al Manar decided to remove such a powerfully suggestive image and then reversed its decision and re-released the cartoon later in the week.

While I am not in a position to understand the editorial decisions being made at almanar.com.lb, I noticed that the reappearance of the cartoon coincides with a new article about a U.S. army document that describes Israel as a nuclear power. The article has an ominous tone and reports that

“Israel is believed to be the sole nuclear entity in the Middle East with more than 200 nuclear warheads already in possession.”

Al Manar: Rallying Public Support for Al-Bashir

2009-03-08T22:21:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, the ICC warrant for Sudanese President al-Bashir continued to garner the most attention and audience involvement on alManar.com.lb. Four out of the five most commented stories are related to the ICC warrant and Al-Manar’s coverage continues to support Hezbollah’s rejection of the ICC proceedings against al-Bashir and is very similar to coverage on Iranian state-sponsored network IRINN.

An article on March 6th which detailed Al-Bashir’s intentions to travel to Darfur this week said that the Sudanese President “vowed to press ahead with peace efforts in Darfur despite the international arrest warrant against him,” implying that the ICC prosecution was hindering the peace process. The article also reported that the African Union is planning to send a delegation to the UN to “try to halt the warrant to give a chance for peace in Sudan.” While the articles do not take the additional step of directly saying that the ICC prosecution is intended to hurt the Sudanese peace process, quotes from al-Bashir fill in the gap. Al-Manar quotes al-Bashir who refers to ICC prosecution as a “neo-colonial plot” and says

“If someone wants to fight us, then they should not come with resolutions from the United Nations Security Council or the ICC. They have to come to our land to fight us themselves."

The article also detailed Sudanese protests of the ICC warrant where Sudanese nationals burnt American flags and stomped on photos of ICC Prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo attempting to illustrate that Sudanese popular will is supportive of al-Bashir.

There were several articles covering Al-Bashir’s visit to Darfur, which was repeatedly referred to as a “act of defiance.” I believe that this expression is meant to resonate with readers who admire organizations and individuals who are seen as standing up to America. The tone of audience comments was supportive of Al-Bashir and skeptical of the motivations of the ICC, which is seen as a tool of the West. For instance, an audience member from Trinidad and Tobago posted the following comment.

“It does not mater how far one goes to appease the White Man, he forever thinks that his station here on earth is god-like and we are all bound to his self anointed authority. Africa and the Middle East must come together and establish an impregnable block that no Authority or foreign entity shan't penetrate or influence.”

Rather then serving a news function and informing its audience about unfolding events in Sudan, Al Manar is seeking to color its coverage to rally its audience to support Hezbollah's stance of supporting Sudanese President Al-Bashir.

Another Big Step - NRK Offers Torrents

2009-03-08T16:10:00.001-07:00

From BoingBoing (emphasis added),

Eirikso from NRK, the Norwegian public broadcast, writes to tell us that they've set up their own BitTorrent tracker, adding, "The tracker is based on the same OpenTracker software that the Pirate Bay has been using for the last couple of years. By using BitTorrent we can reach our audience with full quality, unencrypted media files. Experience from our early tests show that if we're the best provider of our own content we also gain control of it."

Remember Shawn's post about Al Jazeera going Creative Commons with their video footage from Gaza? AJ's decision was a transformative moment in broadcasting that no one seemed to notice. While I don't think what NRK did is as momentous, it is still a fascinating move. It will be interesting to see if a non public IB follows suit and allows for the free download of their footage. At what point does control over content outweigh the potential loss of profits?

Al-Jazeera's Gaza Bureau Under Attack

2009-03-08T12:14:00.000-07:00

From the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, via Ma'an News:

"At approximately 8pm Saturday a news producer at Al-Jazeera in Gaza City, received a phone call from an unidentified person who informed him that an explosive device had been planted near the door of the office and was going to be detonated. De facto government police were successfully able to diffuse the explosives, which were attached to a note demanding the news agency quit its operations in the Gaza Strip. The Al-Jazeera office is on the eleventh floor of the al-Jalaa' Building in the center of Gaza City and was full of employees at the time the threat."

Who is responsible? The note attached to the package read: "To those with unfair media consciences, if you think of a solution it will be well-known. Leave immediately. The statement was signed by persons identifying themselves as 'Ghosts of Samih Al-Madhoun.'"

Who exactly are the Ghosts of Samih Al-Madhoun? Well, in June 2007 Fatah Leader Samih al-Madhoun, who had previously pledged to kill all members of the Islamist movement Hamas was allegedly captured in Gaza, dragged into the streets by Hamas, shot six times in the chest, and then dragged through a refugee camp, all while be filmed by Al-Aqsa. I'm guessing that the "Ghosts" are what's left of Samih's entourage. And they, apparently, are not happy with the way Al-Jazeera is covering events in Gaza.

Happy that no one was hurt.

It's the Economy, Stupid

2009-03-06T14:02:00.000-08:00

Under the headline, “Chavez Blames U.S. for Economic Crisis,” Telesur ran a story yesterday with a sharp critique from the Venezuelan president about the “greed, speculation, and immorality” of the capitalist system responsible for the global economic crisis. Chavez also made highly questionable claims about Venezuela’s supposed insulation from the economic crisis so far, and justified the government’s take-over of a Cargill rice plant this week, saying the government would insure that employers abide by the Venezuelan constitution.

Chavez claimed, “The crisis hasn’t touched us yet, in Venezuela we haven’t felt it, but this continues to move on in the world, and it will ultimately effect us too if the crisis continues to deepen, because we’re interconnected with the international community.”

Considering the tumbling prices of oil which both preceded and have been accelerated by the global economic crisis, it’s hard to believe Venezuela hasn’t been touched by the downturn. Chavez assured citizens that social spending and public works projects would continue uninterrupted, and boasted that while jobs were being lost in the U.S. he had just signed a law protecting jobs in Venezuela because, “government’s responsibility is to protect workers.”

Chavez’ comments are especially interesting considering a Bloomberg story from yesterday about the Cargill rice plant situation- according to Bloomberg, Venezuela has the highest inflation in Latin America and food and beverage prices have risen 40% just since last February. “Private investment and manufacturing have slowed in Venezuela and the private sector had zero growth in 2008...Morgan Stanley predicts the Venezuelan economy will contract 1 percent in 2009.” Sounds like Venezuela has been touched by the global downturn just like the rest of the world.

Best in Show?

2009-03-06T13:59:00.000-08:00

From Joshua Keating on FP Passport:

If Russia Today is to be believed, out of 12,000 dogs competing at the recent Eurasia-2009 dog show in Moscow, President Dmitry Medvedev's three dogs just happened to all win top prizes . . . The judges are just lucky Putin's dogs Koni and Tosya weren't competing. Awkward.

Awkward indeed. Dog shows are where democracy goes to die. Here is the RT clip covering Medvedev's victory. Stay tuned for posting about Secretary of State Clinton's meeting with Lavrov and US/Russian cooperation on Iranian proliferation.

IRINN Coverage of Sudan

2009-03-05T18:13:00.000-08:00

IRINN indeed has an English news segment. The English segment comes after the Persian news program has concluded. Among the news covered on the English broadcast (as well as the Persian broadcast) was the arrest warrant issued for Sudanse President Omar al-Bashir.

The coverage by IRINN of Sudan was titled "Thousands rally in support of al-Bashir in Khartoum", alongside images and video from the protests. Furthermore, Iranian Foreign Minister Motaki met with Sudanese Parliament speaker in Tehran and said the prosecution of al-Bashir was wrong. Motaki said that Iran and Sudan have firm bilateral ties based on mutual interest.

Coverage then again went to the protests in Sudan and a speech by al-Bashir condemning the warrant and agencies such as the UN Security Council, the International Monetary Fund, and the International Criminal Court as being neo-colonialist.

This coverage was lacking in reporting, as there was no coverage of those who oppose al-Bashir, particularly those Sudanse from that were affected by the years of fighting with Khartoum - such as Darfur, both the east or the south.

Competition for Russia Today

2009-03-05T18:12:00.000-08:00

From RussiaProfile.org Kim Andrew Elliott:

New Russian radio stations could compete with international stations. "Billionaire Alexander Lebedev announced his intention to set up two new Russian radio stations – one of which would broadcast in English. They would offer talk-based, 'public-service' style programs and be self consciously uninterested in chasing a profit. ... Lebedev’s comments (and they are so far little more than that—his press service declined to comment on the remarks) come months after the BBC Russian service came under fire from British Russia watchers for scaling back its broadcasts in favor of its Internet service. Is it possible that this new station could represent a resurgence of public service broadcasting? It will enter a market already dominated by Radio Svoboda [RFE/RL, on medium wave in Moscow], funded by the U.S. Congress, and Echo of Moscow, the outspoken opposition station that is funded by advertising, but is majority owned by Gazprom. ... But could it compete with Echo of Moscow or Radio Svoboda, the two analytical stations that tend to compete for the audience that is Moscow’s intelligentsia?" Roland Oliphant, RussiaProfile.org, 4 March 2009. Posted: 05 Mar 2009

Some initial thoughts:

Russia Today is not even mentioned as a possible competitor in the heavily-saturated Russian market.
Lebedev is an interesting character. The Guardian describes him as "clearly a member of Russia's establishment [but] Lebedev has used his wealth to fashion a career as an independent political actor."
Will this new IB be broadcast in America, the U.K.?

I look forward to watching RT ignore this story. Prove me wrong.

Iran 'safe and sound for world tourists'... and their money

2009-03-05T17:52:00.000-08:00

Apparently Press TV is being used to gain tourism investors for the country. In typical international broadcasting, public diplomacy fashion, Iran opens its arms to tourism investors by posting a slew of tourism related stories in order to let people know that Iran is safe and sound for world tourists'... and their money.

“Besides the financial revenue stemming from the industry, tourism can fundamentally change the perspective of humankind from a tribal to a global view," says Iran's president.

The deputy head of Iran Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization announced that Iran is one of the most secure places in the world for tourists.

"Unfortunately, the Western media publishes negative propaganda against Iran and works to present an untrue image of the country," said Hamid Baqaei.

He called on tourists to travel to Iran so that they may "personally witness the level of security."

What caught my eye, was a story about the number of South Koreans applying for tourist visas to Iran has quadrupled following The Glory of Persia traveling exhibit in Seoul. Another story stated that Iran experienced a 100-percent growth in foreign tourist arrivals until 2007.
It seems that at least Iran's cultural diplomacy is working.

Hollywood Delegation in Iran

2009-03-05T16:39:00.000-08:00

It seems that IRINN has failed to mention the visiting delegation of Hollywood actors and movie industry officials. This is even after an art advisor to Iranian Presdient Ahmadinejad spoke out about the delegation and requested an apology for films insulting to Iranians. After watching for any announcement of the visit or the request for an apology on IRINN, I came to the unfortunate conclusion that it will not be covered. A sad realization for a student of public diplomacy.

According to an AP article, "An adviser to Iran's presdient on Sunday demanded an apology from a teacm of visiting Hollywood actors and movie industry officals, incuding Annette Bening, saying films such as '300' and 'The Wrestler' were 'insulting' to Iranians. Without an apology, members of Iran's film industry should refuse to meet with representatives from the nine-member team, said Javad Shamaqdari, the art and cinema advisor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad."

The article goes on to say: "Most ordinary Iranians were not aware of the visit since state radio and television did not widely report it. But those who had heard said they hoped it would improve relations between the two countries. 'The two countries have tried to wrestle in many ways,' said Mahrokh Razani, a self-described movie fan who said he found out about the trip on the Internet. 'I hope they can have better ties through movies.'"

I think that the lack of coverage by IRINN displays the clear state line that the broadcaster walks. It is interesting, though, that the Iranian film industry and Hollywood delegation have met and carried on their meetings and seminars - even when Shamaqdari (art and cinema advisor to Ahmadinejad) said there should be an apology and and a refusal to meet. It reveals the inner complexities within Iran, such as the divergences between Iranians themselves and government rhetoric.

Furthermore, an interesting report on the "Iranian art boom" was recently shown on CNN on February 27, 2009 that discusses what's really going on in Iran's art scene:

France 24: a left-wing breed of fair and balanced?

2009-03-05T16:16:00.000-08:00

I’m wondering if France 24 is trying to invent an altermondialist version of Rupert Murdoch’s creed. Today’s edition of The Debate was quite instructive. The topic of the show was “trade unions asking for more concessions.”

http://www.france24.com/en/20090305-politics-the-influence-of-trade-unions

But it wasn’t quite a “debate.” The two guests who were physically present on the set were a representative of the Trotskyite union Force Ouvrière, and a representative of the altermondialist group Attac. Meanwhile, the guest appearing via satellite was a representative of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions movement. As a result, the “debate” that took place was as balanced as a Bill O’Reilly monologue (granted, with less yelling). Based on this showing, France 24 can rebuke any allegation of being President Sarkozy’s carpet.

On a side note, a very striking feature of this show was the relatively high level of English-speaking skills displayed by the French Trotskyite union representative, Didier Hotte. Very surprising, and very refreshing, especially given the respective English-speaking skills of President Sarkozy, Prime Minister Francois Fillon, opposition leader Francois Bayrou, not mentioning former foreign affairs minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, who could not produce an English sentence.

Sarkozy en anglais

Bayrou en anglais

Fillon en Anglais

Al Manar Follows Hezbollah's Lead

2009-03-05T12:36:00.000-08:00

The biggest story for the past two days on Al Manar’s website has been the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue a warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir. Al Manar’s online coverage of ICC proceedings against Al-Bashir has changed remarkably since Hezbollah came out publicly condemning the ICC decision.

On March 3rd, in anticipation of the ICC warrant, Al Manar covered ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo’s statements on his strong case against Al-Bashir. The story, entitled “ICC Has 'Strong Evidence' against Sudan's Beshir: Prosecutor,” covered both Ocampo’s statements and Al-Bashir’s reaction, as well as a concluding remark about the death toll in Darfur and a quote from Desmond Tutu where he says it is shameful how many African leaders are supportive of Al-Bashir. The report also refers to the protests staged in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum as “an apparent show of support for the president who seized power in a coup.” This article appears fairly even-handed, with slight tones of support for the ICC.

On March 4th, the day the warrant was issued, there was a lengthy story at the top of the news homepage, “ICC Issues Arrest Warrant for Beshir; Sudan Dismisses Move,” which explained the situation and provided a wide range of perspectives, including the African Union, the Sudanese government, the ICC, and human rights groups. While the story gave more coverage to viewpoints dismissive of the ICC decision, it did expose readers to viewpoints supportive of the ICC.

However, today, Hezbollah has taken a stance and declared itself strongly opposed to the ICC proceedings against Al-Bashir, so Al Manar’s online coverage has changed to reflect Hezbollah’s viewpoint. The top story today was entitled “Hezbollah Denounces Arrest Warrant Against Beshir” and the story detailed Hezbollah’s vehement denouncement of the ICC decision, which Hezbollah feels is

“an obvious suspicious attempt to blow up the situation in the province and to threaten Sudan's sovereignty and territorial integrity through the promotion of separatism."

The story only offered Hezbollah’s viewpoint and provided multiple reasons why the ICC proceedings are illegitimate, by drawing into bigger themes such as distrust of the U.S. and Israel.

Additionally, the second most prominent story today was also a rejection of the ICC warrant for Al-Bashir, entitled “Arrest Warrant Draws Global Scorn, Beshir Joins Mass Rally,” details all of the nations and organizations opposed to ICC proceedings and concludes that the legal basis for the ICC proceedings are undeveloped. The article implies that the rejection of the ICC decision is common among Arab leaders and is part of a show of Arab unity with Sudan’s Arab President and is trying to gain legitimacy for the cause it is championing by showing the array of voices both in the Arab world as well as outside of it who share Hezbollah’s perspective.

Al Jazeera Canadian Bureau?

2009-03-04T13:40:00.000-08:00

As Al Jazeera English pushes for a presence on North American cable, when applying to the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission) for access to Canadian cable companies, the IB has said it would open a news bureau in Canada. This would be "the first, and only, international news channel to have a bureau in Canada. Not only would this bring increased coverage to Canada, but would also bring Canadian news to an international audience."

By making their 70th bureau in Canada, Al Jazeera can continue to brag about its commitment to extend the borders of world wide news coverage.

not just about slant, but about access

2009-03-04T13:18:00.000-08:00

While many international broadcasters are often criticized in North America as providing politically slanted content, in crises such as Gaza, the SF Gate reported about the differences in access journalists have during conflicts:

"some network reporters locked out of Gaza did use material from other sources.
Footage from a Jan. 6 NBC News story on an overwhelmed Gaza hospital - complete
with images of wounded children - was from a photojournalist inside Gaza the
network hired, anchor Brian Williams told audiences. And a Jan. 9 ABC News report
on children killed during the war used footage credited to Ramattan, a Palestinian
news outlet based in Gaza."

However, although synergy is happening between journalists/photographers/videographers from all different newscasts, North American broadcasts often do not mention where they get the images and do not fully disclose particular information about the scenes:

"But that ABC story noted that 257 children had been killed - it didn't divide the
number by the number of Israelis or Palestinians. Dajani and other analysts say that
sort of vague reporting gives the impression that losses on both sides of the war
were equal."

Two observations of these happenings is that, one, due to diminishing bureau budgets, synergy between journalists seems more and more logical. While this fact seems benign, in light of the fact that there are very few Arab based broadcasters on television, what other information comes from these sources but is turned into something altogether different by their North American counter parts? Does this synergy provide cheaper content to North American broadcasters? What economic factors are determining the rejection of IBs such as Al Jazeera from getting an American cable contract?

Russia Today thinks Malthus' predictions may be a little off

2009-03-03T15:21:00.000-08:00

In her article, "Abortions - New Russian Threat," Madina Kochenov reports about a potential demographic crisis due to increasing numbers of Russian women terminating their pregnancies. The explanation - economic turmoil. Kochenov writes,

Women blame the government. Complaints are flooding dozens of internet sites. Last year the government ran a special campaign to increase the number of young families in Russia, promising bonuses to young families who had a child. But as the economic crisis bites many women now feel they have been left behind in their condition. Salaries are decreasing unlike the rate of unemployment. Women say all that is making pregnancy a loss rather than a profit.

This story is a stellar example of how RT's is both succeeding and failing in achieving its goal of presenting a more complex portrayal of Russia that challenges western stereotypes. Looking at this story from a half full glass, this article offers a glimpse into the complicated lives of Russian women. It raises questions regarding women's reproductive health and rights. It would be easy for RT to ignore women's issues during a recession, but RT chooses to expand the conversation. By discussing abortion in terms of the economics of family planning, RT demonstrates a willingness to talk about abortion without playing to either side of a heavily polarized audience (something that many in the West have failed to do). After reading this article a few times, I get the impression that RT is not trying to hide any facts or information.

Yet, my pessimism renews when I re-read the title. To who or what is abortion a threat to? Mother Russia? By framing this article in terms of a threat to the state and the longevity of Russian health, RT is still reminiscent of Soviet-era Pravda. Maybe I am reading too much into this as the title was a way to attract western attention since abortion is a hot-button issue. Maybe my pessimism is tied to the article's lack of analysis concerning the implications of these demographic changes. Regardless, if RT wants to strive towards doing a better job, it needs to eschew sensationalist headlines for a more subdued tone. It needs to frame it's stories in light of economic and/or political data instead of quoting a message board. The quality must improve in order to advance the cause.

Another Persian Language International Broadcaster

2009-03-03T13:44:00.000-08:00

Press TV reported that Afghan President Hamid Karzai offered Iran a joint media satellite.

“The Afghan president called for the development of cooperation between the two countries' media to exchange experiences.”

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Tajikistan's Emomali Rahmon, and Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai are said to join on March 21st in a meeting of “Persian speaking countries.” The three countries are said to be working on the launch of a television channel dedicated to the broadcast of programs in Persian, “providing an authentic source of information for all interested in the culture.”

“One of the most important duties of the independent regional media is to confront western media for censoring real news in eastern countries" explained head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, Ezzatollah Zarghami.

The three also agreed to "increase reciprocal economic, security, and political ties, and to further discuss the creation of a Persian-speaking union."

Not so subtle: Iran's International Urban Film Festival to Screen TWENTY Katrina films

2009-03-03T12:37:00.000-08:00

Press TV is reporting that Iran's third International Urban Film Festival, which runs from March 2 to March 7, will include 20 films on Hurricane Katrina, including Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke, Ashley Hunt's I Won't Drown on the Levees and "controversial filmmaker Scott Ritter's Bush Crimes: Hurricane Katrina, which is about the Bush Crimes Commission Hearings and the testimony by experts on the abandonment of New Orleans before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina."

We all know that Hurricane Katrina was not a high-point for America's image abroad (also, see here), but 20 films on how bad the Bush administration goofed up seems a bit, I don't know, obsessive? Also, very depressing.

I like to take moments like this and think about what would happen if the reverse were to take place. What if an American film festival decided to showcase 20 or so documentaries on how, according to the UN, Iran is the "sixth most disaster-prone country in the world," and that, "for the past 10 years, an average of 4,000 people have been killed and 55,000 affected annually by disaster?" Ouch. Now that I think about it, maybe there should be a few films produced on how there is the equivalent of a humanitarian 9/11 in Iran every year and nobody is really talking about it. Given Javad Shamaqdari's (Special Adviser to President Ahmadinejad) recent demand for an apology for the way films like 300 (where "Persians are depicted as decadent, sexually flamboyant and evil") and The Wrestler (where Mickey Rourke battles another wrestler named--also not so subtly--The Ayatollah) are "insulting to Iranians," I can only imagine the outcry that would take place if American filmmakers shined their collective spotlights on humanitarian failures of the Iranian government.

Russia Today as Cultural Diplomacy (aka Adventures in Bingerle)

2009-03-02T22:39:00.001-08:00

Daily RT posts a new interesting fact about Russian culture or history in it's Russia Now section. This comes from the March 3rd entry about Emperor Alexander II:

I believe I have shown you, by coming to see you twice, despite your sulking... you know perfectly well what the only reason for it is and you cannot dare to doubt the being who belongs to you body and soul and who only breathes through you," one letter from Alexander reads.

"I saw in your eyes that you wanted to throw yourself on me to forget everything and enjoy our 'bingerle'," he continues, using the word ‘bingerle’ as their secret code for ‘love making.'

This quote comes from RT's brief bio of Alexander II, aka “the Liberator” of the Russian Empire, who came to power on March 3 1855. While I do not question the importance/relevance of 'the Liberator's proclivity to bingerle, it is interesting that RT chooses to use its limited space (three paragraphs at most) to recite snippets of one of Alexander's love letters to his mistress. RT's Russia Now section is designed to pique foreigner's interest in Russia. This is certainly one way to do so.

Russia Now also includes links to information about Russian history, geography, cuisine, literature, nightlife and travel. The expanding database of all things Russia is testament to RT's long-term goal of educating foreign publics about Russia past and present. Some of my favorite posts include:

The official RT top ten list of Russian vodkas.
An amazing collection of Russian literature. Many great works of Russian literature, from authors such as Dostoevsky and Chekhov, are available in full-text and translated in English.
And last but certainly not least. The first sentence from the sections' overview, "A vast snow-clad country, the native land of vodka, bears and the KGB: myths about Russia seem to be an integral part of its image." At least they identify some of the major stereotypes placed on Russians.

Al Manar Reacts to John Kerry

2009-03-02T20:02:00.000-08:00

There was quite a lot of coverage of the United States across all forms of Al Manar’s media over the past two weeks in response to John Kerry’s visits to Lebanon and Syria and his request that Syria help disarm Hezbollah. In response to this perceived attack on Hezbollah, Al Manar carried stories about U.S. interference in Lebanon’s political affairs on television and in both the Arabic and English websites.

Al Manar TV ran an interview with Hezbollah MP Husayn Al-Hajj Hasan on February 20th where Hasan said that John Kerry’s recent trip to Lebanon was a violation of sovereignty. The interview addressed Kerry’s meeting with Syrian officials where he asked that Syria help to disarm Hezbollah, of which Hasan said:

“What is noteworthy in this issue is that the Americans have asked for a Syrian interference in Lebanon, while those who falsely allege to be concerned with sovereignty, freedom, and independence in Lebanon have not denounced the US demand of a Syrian interference in Lebanon. Why? Because it seems that this demand suits the US and Israeli interests, and no one of them can harm the US and Israeli interests regardless of the Syrian response, which was clear that Syria does not accept this, and is not a tool for the US policies."

A similar story was featured on Al Manar’s Arabic website February 24th, where Al Manar interviewed Vice-president of the Higher Shiite Council Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan who blamed the lack of consensus on a budget for the Council for South Lebanon on the inference of the American embassy. Qabalan accused the U.S. of trying to interfere in every Lebanese detail, obstructing all political and diplomatic values and norms, saying:

"They are interested in knowing all details, they want to know even the salaries paid to the martyrs' families as well as to the former detainees and wounded people.”

Al Manar’s English website ran comparable stories, including a story on February 20th where Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Shaykh Na'im Qasim called for the U.S. to stop interfering in Lebanese elections, saying:

"We want the US to stop interfering in our elections, to stop supporting the criminal Zionists, to stop conspiring against our country and people, and to stop all the crimes it commits with its policies and positions.”

Al Manar English complimented these stories about American interference in Lebanese affairs with op-ed pieces about American weakness from Western voices: an article warning the U.S. not to treat Afghanistan like Iraq by Irish journalist Patrick Cockburn and an article arguing that the U.S economy is designed to fail by U.S. federal government analyst Richard C. Cook.

BBC Arabia or Al Jazeera?

2009-03-02T17:19:00.001-08:00

Who will the US cable news watching audience see first: BBC Arabia or Al Jazeera?

In Rania Habib's (Kipp Report) interview of Hosam El Sokkari (BBC's head of Arabic services), there is mention of a deal "in the US with a cable company to offer BBC Arabic on cable there. BBC Arabic is not available on the current satellite provision there, although ART has started broadcasting a one-hour daily in the US, in anticipation of launching our 24-hour service on cable." ART (Arab Radio and Television) America is distributed on the EchoStar platform by International Media Distribution (Hagey).

Similar to Al Jazeera, BBC Arabia has had their share of controversy, most significantly when the BBC aired an episode of Panorama critical of the Saudi Arabian government, BBC Arabia's funders at the time, causing the entire broadcast to be canceled after just two years (Habib). El Sokkari had a brief stint at Al Jazeera, the network that the core of BBC Arabia staff went to work for in 1996 (Seib, 2005:601).

However, there seems to be a not-so-subtle explanation of how BBC Arabia is different from its (toughest) competitor:

"One of our key differentiators is that we don’t consider ourselves as party to the events;
we do not make the news. We do not have views, we report views. Our success lies in our
ability to take a distance and make it possible for various parties to express themselves
the way they want, and in our ability to bring detailed facts and comprehensive views."

This comment is both very BBC-esque in its effort to promote 'objective journalism'. However, it clearly indicates its recognition of the problems concerning their competitor's 'objectivity', agenda-setting or side-taking.

With this in mind, as BBC Arabia regains prominence in IB, is it this distancing that makes North American cable companies more keen on making a deal?

PressTV Viewers have Suprising Opinions and Surprising Nationalities.

2009-03-02T13:17:00.000-08:00

In this week's PressTV.com "Quick Vote" visitors are asked the following;

QUICK VOTE

What will be the most likely scenario for the aftermath of the US economic crisis?
It will lead to the collapse of capitalism The capitalistic system will modify itself and survive the crisis Obama will defuse the crisis without any major modifications in the capitalistic system
	Results

The results are interesting in that the majority of respondents feel that it will lead to the collapse of capitalism though a close second goes to those who believe the system will adjust and survive.

Results
It will lead to the collapse of capitalism (46%)
The capitalistic system will modify itself and survive the crisis (41%)
Obama will defuse the crisis without any major modifications in the capitalistic system (13%)

What makes this poll even more interesting is looking at who these respondents are. I referred to Alexa which tracks website traffic to see who PressTV's audience is. According to Alexa..

Presstv.com users come from these countries:

United States22.0%

Iran21.0%

United Kingdom14.6%

Canada10.2%

Indonesia7.5%

Switzerland6.7%

South Africa2.0%

Trinidad and Tobago1.8%

Norway1.6%

Cyprus1.3%

India1.2%

Netherlands0.8%

Bulgaria0.8%

Poland0.7%

Australia0.7%

Turkey0.7%

United Arab Emirates0.6%

Other countries5.7%

Regardless of their largely UK-oriented programming, the Brit's aren't their largest audience.. the United States is, with Iran coming in at a close 2nd. It looks as if Press TV has both a domestic and international audience. In looking at past poles, such as the one a few weeks ago which stated that 78% of Press TV poll respondents (15,575 respondents) felt that Israel threatens stability and security in the volatile Middle East. Only 15% of the respondents to the poll said that Iran is the main source of concern for the stability of the region, while a mere 3% said Egypt should be feared, and another 3 percent believed none of the choices threatened the stability of the region. Knowing the large US following, it puts a different spin on those numbers.

CIA Stories

2009-02-28T17:37:00.000-08:00

In the last few days, Telesur has run a number of stories about alleged CIA interference with at least three Latin American countries. Starting Wednesday, Telesur had extensive coverage of a diplomatic row that erupted between the U.S. and Argentina after CIA director Leon Panetta warned in a speech that, “Argentina, Ecuador, and Venezuela are in dire economic straits and could be destabilized by the global economic crisis”.

Argentina summoned its U.S. ambassador demanding an explanation and apparently received an apology by phone from Panetta, although the apology has so far only been reported by Spanish language news sites. Interestingly, Telesur has focused less on the Venezuelan government’s own response to the comments: a story appeared quietly on the website about Chavez demanding an apology from Obama for the comments, but the Argentinian response has gotten a lot more attention.

On Thursday, Telesur ran a story about alleged CIA infiltration of the Bolivian state oil company (YPFB). The headline was “Morales Denounces CIA Actions Against Progressive Governments,” and included complaints from the Bolivian president about “covert CIA operations” in the scandal-plagued Bolivian state oil company.

Friday, Telesur ran an exclusive interview with Ecuador’s security minister, Miguel Carvajal, who claimed a recent investigation uncovered evidence of CIA payments to informants within Ecuadorian state agencies, including agencies involved in “operations against transnational organized crime and drugdealing.” Carvajal called the CIA’s involvement “unacceptable”.

The stories draw on a legacy of covert CIA operations in South America, especially during the 1970’s, which has instilled permanent suspicions about the agency among a lot of Latin Americans. American interference with Latin America, and particularly with Venezuela, has been an ongoing theme on Telesur.

Putin Checks In

2009-02-28T12:49:00.000-08:00

Via Kim Andrew Elliott (emphasis added):

Putin (briefly) visits RIA-Novosti and Russia Today. "Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti on Tuesday. ... RIA Novosti Editor-in-Chief Svetlana Mironyuk gave Putin a guided tour of the agency's two-floor multimedia newsroom, the only one of its kind in Russia, which was inaugurated in January 2008. ... The concept behind the newsroom is to help the department's 300 journalists and editors improve their efficiency through prompt exchange of information, better planning and tight coordination. ... RIA Novosti's main website www.rian.ru and foreign-language news portals have more than 5.5 million visitors per month. Putin also visited the offices of the English-language newspaper The Moscow News and Russia's first 24-hour English-language news channel, Russia Today, located in the same building." RIA Novosti, 24 February 2009.
"Reaction among the staff to Putin's entrance ranged from big smiles to rabbit-in-the-headlights paralysis. No one dared to step forward and press the flesh with him, perhaps sensing that the brief description given by [RIA Novosti's editor-in-chief Svetlana] Mironyuk of the newspaper's work was all he had time for." The Moscow News, 26 November 2009.

Here is how RT covered the event, start at the 30 second mark:

A few comments.

It is interesting to note that RT was "inspired" by Putin.
What was Putin looking at? It appears that he is getting a tour of RT's YouTube page. Did RT care what they were filming when he was there?
What is the story? RT does not explain why Putin decided to drop by. I will try and find a better answer for that question.

London's PressTV?

2009-02-26T14:48:00.000-08:00

In watching the PressTV programming, I notice more and more of the shows are not only based in London but focus on British issues. One program called "Comment" is hosted by British MP George Galloway and allows viewers to email and call into the show and pretty much talk about whatever they want. Viewers comment from Spain, the UK, Nigeria, Cyprus and other corners of the world. One caller brought up the torture of Guantanamo Bay prisoner, Binyam Mohamed. Galloway criticized Britain for its role in the situation. The show had its fair share of Israel criticism as is common on PressTV, but one viewer email from Nigeria stated that its author was glad to see Netanyahu elected but stated that Palestinians should have a state and that Israel needs to stop the indiscriminant killing of Palestinians "because it's better than that." Galloway replied that Israeli’s have overwhelmingly chosen war by electing Netanyahu. Which is not exactly true because Livni actually won the popular vote. Anyway, the program that followed dedicated its entire 50 minutes to Britain's laws regarding the custody of children in divorce. The show took to the streets of London interviewing Brits about how they felt about these laws. Clearly this means PressTV is catering to a largely British audience. I find myself wondering how this program topic furthers Iran's mission with PressTV. On that note, let's look at this clip from PressTV's "Comment" in which Galloway defends an email accusation that Iran is a dictatorship. Maybe this is Iran's mission with PressTV...

Convergence facilitates global perspective

2009-02-25T14:19:00.000-08:00

Amongst the plethora of reports about Al Jazeera English's new campaign to engage North American viewers to petition cable companies to carry their broadcast, the Denver WestWord's blog posted a story about their Denver news anchor Gabriel Elizondo who left to work for Al Jazeera international.

In the post, Elizondo comments that, when covering the Democratic National Convention (in Denver) for AJ, there were "police snipers on top of the buildings, [and] undercover cops around me", says the reporter.

On the other hand, UK newspaper, The Independent, is taking a completely different approach, having just signed a deal with Al Jazeera English to begin posting the broadcast on the paper's website. The Independent's editor of digital, Jimmy Leach, says, "showing Al Jazeera videos was a great way of delivering a global perspective both to The Independent’s UK-based users and to its growing audience overseas." He adds that Al Jazeera [will] enable The Independent to bring a different world-view to its audience and its broad-minded approach to interpreting world opinion would sit perfectly with Independent readers.

I'm willing to bet there are not very many Independent readers in Denver.

Telesur's Agenda

2009-02-24T17:38:00.000-08:00

Telesur’s coverage over the last couple of days is a good example of the kind of agenda-setting the network’s trying to do. For starters, Telesur has chosen not to cover the Academy Awards at all. The top story over the last few days has been a wiretapping scandal in Colombia which has gotten very little coverage so far on other networks, including major Latin American newspapers.

The scandal is about agents of the DAS (Colombian intelligence service) who allegedly wiretapped journalists, Supreme court judges and members of the political opposition. There have been contradictory claims that Colombian drug lords were behind the operation or that Uribe’s Colombian government itself was responsible.

Telesur’s coverage includes an accusation that the U.S. provided the surveillance equipment used, which hasn’t been reported elsewhere. Meanwhile, the Chavez government has just announced that it will be supporting a search for a Colombian presidential candidate in 2010 who shares the Venezuelan government’s ideological approach.

So Telesur’s heavily reporting a scandal that could damage the Colombian president, while the Venezuelan government looks for a candidate to oppose Uribe in 2010. That seems to be both agenda-setting in Telesur’s choice of stories as well as news coverage with a pretty clear agenda.

All you need to know.... PressTV

2009-02-24T12:20:00.000-08:00

Apparently PressTV feels that Obama picked an anti-Iran man for Iran post. Veteran US diplomat's Dennis Ross was appointed as special advisor on the Persian Gulf and southwest Asia.

"In light of its supposed "policy U-turn" toward Iran, the Obama administration has managed to raise eyebrows by giving the post to Ross as he seeks a tough anti-Iran approach.In the heat of the presidential race, Ross co-chaired a group called United Against Nuclear Iran -- an organization working to 'stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons'."

Ross also supported further sanctions against the country for its nuclear program.

"The report by think tanks [is] believed to be an integral part of the so-called Israel Lobby in the US. 'Only if Israeli policymakers believe that US and European policymakers will ensure that the Islamic Republic does not gain nuclear weapons will the Israelis be unlikely to strike Iran independently,' added the report."

Among the reader comments, most of which were angry and not constructive, "Morteza" showed what seemed to sum up the reader sentiment:

"As this person is a zionist and his loyality is first to the zionist entity, there will be no good coming out of meeting with him. The Supreme Leader should publicly ban our gov to deal with him and openly say to the whole world that he is a zionist terrorist and Irn welcomes talking to USA but not with this man."

In other important PressTV news.... a riveting story about nail care hits the pages of PressTV.

"If the eyes are the windows to the soul, the nails hold clues to one's health and even personality."

Seems even PressTV wants to show its readers that it is one-stop shopping for everything you need to know: Updates about Iran's nuclear program and how to grow strong, healthy nails.

Is that my iPod or Russia Today?

2009-02-24T10:20:00.001-08:00

Last week, Russia Today unveiled its new website, and it looks a lot like the home screen of my iPod Touch. Take a look (or visit the website):

Clearly, they are appealing to a younger audience. The content continues to be, well, a little fishy (See Noah's previous posts here and here). Moreover, according to alexa.com, not a lot of people are visiting the website, and more importantly, the new design hasn't generated any new traffic either (click on the data below to enlarge). Also of note is the decreased number of page views/user: the 1 week average is 1.9 pages/user, lower than the 2.41 pages/user 3 month average. Since the new format is just over a week old, I'd say that so far it is scaring more people away than drawing people in.

Al Manar's Online Audience

2009-02-23T13:09:00.000-08:00

Al Manar’s television programming has either been banned or has simply not been made available in many nations so the website if the primary medium for many in Europe and the Americas. The site offers content in English, French and Arabic.

According to Quantcast, which provides statistics on Americans’ online activity, only about 7,000 Americans access Almanar.com.lb each month. These site visitors are primarily young and male. For more insights into Al Manar’s audience, I reviewed several features on the website which provide for audience engagement.

POLLS

For the past two weeks the poll question on Al Manar has been, “Do you see the Zionist public’ inclination to the right as an expression of fear following the outcome of the Lebanon and Gaza wars?” Of the nearly 10,000 participants in the poll, over 90% responded in the affirmative.

AUDIENCE COMMENTS

Al Manar allows website visitors to comment on news articles, asking that they provide their name and country of origin. Al Manar lists the most read and most commented news. Even for the stories included in the most commented news group, there are only several visitor comments, but the few comments are highly vehement. For example, in response to the article I mentioned in a previous post, “Jesus Abused by Spiteful Isrealis, Hezbollah Condemns,” one reader from Pakistan responded with “I am not surprised at all. Zionists do not have any religion, they do not have any God, they don’t have any prophet. Their God is Money.” This comment is reflective of most comments. The other typical component in audience comments is quotations from religious scripture. Those who post are both from Western nations such as the US, UK and Belgium as well as Middle Eastern and North African nations such as Pakistan and Algeria. A sample audience post is provided below.

No Cable, No Mobile

2009-02-23T13:07:00.000-08:00

Al Jazeera is now pushing their mobile service updates, where you can be continually texted or sent Al Jazzera's coverage or watch mobile Al Jazeera TV on your cell phone. However, like the lack of availability of Al Jazeera on North American cable television, no cell phone company in North America provides Al Jazeera's mobile service either.

IRINN's News Scrolls in English

2009-02-23T02:22:00.000-08:00

I think it is interesting to note that while IRINN broadcasts in Persian, there is always a news headline scroll at the bottom of the screen running in English. This is not unusual given the fact that English is a lingua franca in many countries. In fact, there are usually postings in both the Persian and English languages in major public places in Iran. The name of the broadcaster "IRINN" is itself written in English and it is displayed in the corner of the broadcast. On a last point, IRINN replays coverage from a diverse group of international broadcasters during segments of their program. The list of broadcasters includes: BBC, MSNBC, Al Jazeera, and Al Arabiya. News from other media are also referenced, such as the The Economist.

Here is a list of news headlines that have been displayed on IRINN:

"Haaretz: West Bank settlement gets green light for massive expansion; Senator John Kerry says U.S. eager to talk to Syria; Civilian, solider gunned down in Mosul; Clinton criticizes Bush on N.Korea; Moscow again eyes Afghanistan 20 years after retreat; Hamas: dialogue, only way for internal reconciliation."

Coverage of Germany's Schroeder in Iran

2009-02-21T23:12:00.000-08:00

This week former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was in Iran for a four day visit. During his visit he met with Iranian President Ahmadinejad and IRI's parliament speaker Ali Larijani in Tehran.

The IRINN coverage of the meeting between Ahmadinejad and Schroeder was a positive one. The IRINN said that Schroeder emphasized Iran's importance to the region [Middle East] and that Europe and Iran should work well together. Furthermore, there was an emphasis on the need for energy and solving the current global problems. This story was also covered by the IRIB, another Iranian news agency.

The IRIB covered the meeting between Schroeder and Larijani, and it was affirmative of Iran as well, "Schroeder lauds IRI's positive role in the region." The report goes on to say, "Former German chancellor, for his part, called Iran an important and influential country in the regional and international equations adding, 'if we would not appreciate Iran's role in Afghanistan it would not be fair.' Gehrard Schroeder also said Iran's huge energy capacities can provide ripe grounds for development of trade ties with the European Union."

The meeting was described differently in a report by Reuters, however. The report said: "'The Holocaust is a historic fact and there is no sense in denying this unparalleled crime,' Schroeder told the Iranian Chamber of Commerce. 'Iran needs to take responsibility and respect international rules, if it wants to be taken seriously as a regional power.'"

The Reuters report goes on to say that "the head of Iran's Chamber of Industry and Commerce Mohammad Nahavandian said it would be wrong to 'measure the developments in the Middle East with two yardsticks. We shouldn't forget the recent massacre of people in the Gaza strip and should internationally condemn Israel for it.'"

Also, China View reported that Schroeder called for talks between the U.S. and Iran. He is quoted as saying, "'We need dialogue at the highest possible levels' to resolve the discords between Iran and the United States.'"

Clearly, the coverage by Iranian broadcasters IRINN and IRIB excluded Schroeder's criticism of Iran and any recommendations regarding U.S.-Iran relations. Also, the Reuters report did not discuss any of the positive exchanges that took place in the meetings, particularly the emphasis on trade cooperation between the EU and Iran. It is more important however, to note the lack of self-critical reporting by IRINN or IRIB, since both are the central news broadcasters of Iran. This lack of self-criticism is evident in regards to the nuclear issue as well.

Al Manar Can Take a Joke

2009-02-20T11:00:00.000-08:00

Al Manar has a page on its site called Caricature with a gallery of political cartoons. A new cartoon is added to the gallery every day and even though the words are in Arabic, the imagery makes the messages very clear.

Political cartoons have been accredited with being able to capture complicated political situations with visual metaphors and can be a persuasive form of communication. In my opinion, Al Manar's cartoons successfully capture Hezbollah's worldview and it is worth noting that Al Manar has added humor to its arsenal of persuasive tactics.

Al Manar Gets Emotional

2009-02-20T10:16:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, my daily visit to almanar.com.lb was different. The most prominent story of the day was entitled, “ Jesus (pbuh) Abused by Spiteful Israelis; Hezbollah Condemns.”

This was a far cry from last week’s coverage of Israeli elections, which were characterized by some semblance of dispassionate neutrality. The article details a comedy program on Israeli TV, which made fun of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. The author, Hussein Assi infuses his opinion of Israel thorough the story and argues that this television program shows that Israel degrades and disrespects other prominent religions. For instance, the article begins with “It’s the same Israeli ‘spite’ that has proved itself since the ‘creation’ of the so-called Zionist entity that reveals itself once again.”

This article is the most blatant expression of opinion from an Al Manar journalist on the website that I have seen. As mentioned previously, Almanar.com.lb had seemingly established a pattern of limiting its own staff to less partial news reporting and providing passionate opinionated pieces by posting articles from writers and activists not affiliated with Al Manar. These proxy voices have worldviews match Al Manar’s assumed biases but Al Manar was able to separate itself with a disclaimer:

“Al-Manar.com.lb is not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.”

The decision to post such an opinionated piece and jarring headline as news seriously erodes Al Manar’s attempt to be a credible news source. Today, a new story about the Vatican’s response to the Israeli television show illustrates the resumption of the traditional division of labor, as the news piece refrains from passing judgment and allows quotes from the Vatican about the blasphemous nature of the television show to suffice. It will be interesting to see what other issues spark this lapse in journalistic composure.

Crickets for Politkovskaya

2009-02-19T17:35:00.000-08:00

Russia Today's top headline reads: Skull and Bones sued over Indian chief's remains. Since the redesign (which eerily reminds me of the TV game show, Hollywood Squares), only one top news story is displayed at a time. After a ten to twenty second freeze frame* on the riveting Skull and Bones piece, a photo of Anna Politkovskaya graces the screen with the caption, "The Manhunt for Red October Continues." The editorial decision made by RT to elevate the coverage of a lawsuit about Geronimo's remains over one of the most pressing stories concerning the future of free speech in Russia is inexcusable.

Here is some background. Journalist Anna Politkovskaya was murdered at her home on October 7th, 2007. Known for unabashed coverage of the human rights violations in Chechnya by Russian soldiers, Anna Politkovskaya was named by the New Statesman as one of the fifty heroes of our time. What made her heroic also made her a target. Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Anne Applebaum described Politkovskaya's murder,

There was no attempt to disguise the murder as a theft or an accident: Her assassin not only shot her in broad daylight, but he left her body in the elevator of her apartment building alongside the gun he used to kill her -- standard practice for Moscow's arrogant hit men. Nor can her murder be easily attributed to distant provincial authorities or the criminal mafia: Local businessmen had no motivation to kill her -- but officials of the army, the police and even the Kremlin did. Whereas local thieves might have tried to cover their tracks, Politkovskaya's assassin, like so many Russian assassins, did not seem to fear the law.

Recently, three men were acquitted for being accomplices in her murder. From the start of the trial, many court watchers called into doubt the guilt of these suspects as her murderer has yet to be named or caught by Russian authorities. How did RT cover this trial that further serves to delay action and sustain a potential cover-up? Here's how,

If justice was awarded for courage alone, Anna Politkovskaya, the late journalist who seemed most comfortable reporting from an exploding battlefield, would have been vindicated long ago.

What a backhanded compliment! It gets better. The article then describes her work in Chechnya,

Known best for her relentless coverage of the atrocities of the Chechen war from both sides of the trenches, Politkovskaya did not limit herself to war correspondent. On the evening of October 23, 2002, about 45 Chechen terrorists seized the House of Culture Theater in central Moscow with 850 hostages inside. The perimeter of the theater was rigged with explosives and the terrorists clearly had no intention of leaving alive. Anna Politkovskaya was one of the few people permitted inside of the building in an attempt to negotiate with the terrorists. Although the talks were essentially fruitless (after a dramatic two-and-a-half day waiting game of cat and mouse, Russian Special Forces finally stormed the building, rescuing 721 of the 850 hostages and eliminating the terrorists), Politkovskaya proved her mettle by voluntarily exposing herself to the gravest danger in an effort to save human lives.

This is a gross misrepresentation of her life's work. Politkovskaya was one of the most visible Russians speaking out against Putin and the acts perpetrated by Russian forces. Portraying her as a terrorist negotiator is an insulting attempt to offer an olive branch to those who respected her sacrifice.

RT would not want to glorify her too much, so this section is followed by,

In many ways, Politkovskaya’s desperate talks with the theater terrorists showed her star shooting full circle. From something of a human rights vigilante with a pen that scribbled like a sword (sometimes a bit too haphazardly, however, as her many critics would counter) . . .

Of course it would be too much effort for RT to identify a SINGLE CRITIC of hers. Rather, it is better to disparage her memory anonymously, so as to not offend her family. The article concludes by attributing her murder to organized crime and vindicating Putin from having any role in her execution.

I've read that it is a mistake to blog when angry. I'll heed that advice now.

*Sometimes RT switches to the Politkovskaya story second, sometimes third after an article entitled, "Ukraine Defense Minister: We are going down".

Is France 24 an arm of US PubD efforts? Or just a sloppy operation?

2009-02-19T16:23:00.000-08:00

I’ve been trying to assess whether France 24’s programs, consistent with its mission to promote French values, had a pro-French bias, and if so, in what ways. I was pretty puzzled when I ran into the following program the other day, the English version of daily “The Debate.”

The topic of the day was “Iraq, between hope and terror”, and the subtitle read “with news of fresh suicide attacks against Shiite pilgrims, it’s clear that Iraq remains polarized and dangerous. Nevertheless, peaceful provincial elections in January have shown us a different Iraq. How does the situation stand today?”

http://www.france24.com/en/20090213-the-debate-iraq-between-hope-and-terror-1

The video is quite long, but basically, it provides a very positive outlook on how things are moving in Iraq. It shows women voting, optimistic Iraqis, etc. It was so positive it sounded more like something that would have been produced by an American PubD outlet, than by the French PubD outlet, especially since France has been such an outspoken opponent of the war.

As I’ve previously pointed out, instead of dubbing one show from French to English, France 24 actually produces the same show twice, once in French, once in English. In this case, the video documentary segment was the same. The debate itself, then, was facilitated by the same anchor, once in French with French guests, and once in English. What is very interesting is that on the English broadcast, while 2 of the guests were French people speaking English, the third guest was an American – in fact, a “Political Officer” of the US Embassy.

I’m not quite sure how this fits with France 24’s mission "to cover international current events from a French perspective and to convey French values throughout the world". Is France 24 an arm of US PubD? At the very least, on the face of this segment, it should not be accused of having a pro-French bias. Would this explain why the French General Auditor (Cour des Comptes) recently called France 24 on its "instable strategy" and "yet-to-be-defined coherence"?

Modern day Orientalism in International Broadcasting

2009-02-19T10:27:00.000-08:00

It is interesting to compare the technical manifestation of ‘freedom of the press’ in

America

and the actual.

This past week Al Jazeera, the Qatar funded broadcasting system that within the last couple of years has developed an English language network, began a campaign in North America to address ‘myths and misperceptions’ about their work. This is due to the fact that the majority of American and Canadian cable networks will not carry Al Jazeera, although this is supposedly slowly changing.

Al Jazeera is known for its presence in the Middle East and for coverage of world issues/events often from the ‘other side’, such as airing speeches by Osama bin Laden, etc. As seen in Al Jazeera’s PR campaign in the North America, how is the conception of ‘Othering’ (Hall; Silverstone) a present concern in international broadcasting? Is this a clear example of Edward Said’s analysis of ‘Orientalism’ but in a different medium?

The biggest questions are: Are all international broadcasts considered equal? If not, why not? And, who says?

Gitmo Diplomacy

2009-02-18T14:33:00.000-08:00

Telesur has picked up a story from the AP wire about a visit next week by new U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to the Guantanamo Bay prison facility. The difference in the Telesur story - which is taken almost word for word from the AP story- is Telesur describes Guantanamo as an “illegal prison,” a description which they use in the headline as well: “New U.S. Attorney General to Visit Illegal Prison”. While Gitmo is a popular subject among international broadcasters, none of the other networks describe Gitmo as an illegal prison. The only other similar description I’ve seen is in Cuban newspapers (like Juventud Rebelde ) which describe Guantanamo as an "illegally-occupied naval base”.

Welcome to IRINN

2009-02-17T02:57:00.000-08:00

All during the second week of February 2009, the television broadcast by IRINN (Islamic Republic of Iran News Network) was focused on the 3oth Anniversary of the Iranian Revolution. The programs included footage of the Revolution (such as Khomeini arriving in Iran) and interviews with Iranians about the Revolution and what they experienced. One particular interviewee was a lady who recalled her 3 1/2 year imprisonment before the Revolution, during the time of the Shah. What became clear was that the angle of this interview, and all the others, was in clear support for the Revolution. Although an interesting note is that this particular lady said she was not fully aware that the Revolution was actually taking place and did not know the full scale of the events.

Another topic during last weeks broadcast was on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the launch of the first Iranian satellite. First, Ahmadinejad was shown giving a talk given to diplomats in Tehran. Ahmadinejad said that "the time for force is over", referring to Israel and the conflict in Gaza. Right after that, the program diverted to the launch of the first Iranian satellite, Omid ("hope"). An Iranian state web address all about the satellite was then given and can be found here: www.omid-sat.ir/. This launch has been argued by some as a way for Ahmadinejad to sway voters in his favor in the upcoming presidential elections that will be held on June 12, 2009. There is probably a substantial amount of validity to this argument, given that Ahmadinejad has not lived up to the reason he was elected - his promise to improve the economy. Adding further pressure to Ahmadinejad's re-election bid is the fact that Khatami, a reformist and former Iranian President, has announced he will be running for President as well.

What will Broadcasting 2.0 look like?

2009-02-16T14:37:00.000-08:00

The Al-Jazeera Network is certainly trying to find out. Judith Townend reviewed AJ's ambitious efforts--known as Al-Jazeera Labs--to succeed in a world of Web 2.0.

AJ Labs started out a bit slow, but has recently picked up pace. One pillar of the Labs project is focused on making AJ's content available through as many mediums as possible. Along these lines, the webpage now features an application for the iPhone, a link to the newly revamped mobile webpage (designed for non-iPhone Smart phones), information on how to receive AJ's news via twitter, how to text or tweet in a question for Riz Khan to ask a guest on his show, a link to AJ's YouTube page, information on how to receive a RSS feed of AJ's news on your Sony Ericsson phone, a link to all of AJ's podcasts (available through iTunes), information on how to receive AJ's headlines through your Instant Message client, and, of course, AJ's Facebook application.

The second pillar of the Labs project is a bit more innovative. While AJ's coverage of the recent conflict in Gaza drew attention worldwide for its relative depth (AJE was the only international broadcaster that had English speaking journalists on the ground in Gaza), it also coincided with several innovative Labs initiatives that show much promise. Last November, AJE launched its citizen-journalism upload portal, a webpage devoted to "seeking eyewitness news reports from its vast international audience." During the conflict on Gaza, the Your Media webpage was flooded with photos and video from Palestinians in Gaza, much of which made its way to AJ's webpage and some of which was rebroadcast on the network's programming. In addition, the Mapping the War in Gaza feature was a big hit. Using software developed by Ushahidi, AJ created a map (based on Microsoft's virtual earth program) that integrated information submitted from its citizen journalists into a zoomable map of Gaza. Each nugget of submitted "news" from citizen journalists--be it a tweet, a video or a cell phone picture--was turned into a dot, categorized via color in order to differentiate the different events (dark blue dots noted a death of some sort, while yellow dots were references to news about international aid), and placed on the map. Citizen reports were vetted to ensure that they were indeed factual, and then integrated into reports from the mainstream media to ensure that the map was providing a comprehensive look at the events taking place.

Perhaps most interesting was AJ's decision to release its raw Gaza footage under the Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution license, functionally making the footage available for all commercial and non-commercial use, free-of-charge. This means that news outlets, filmmakers and bloggers will be able to easily share, remix, subtitle or reuse the footage (see previous post on this here). While I don't think that this move was publicized enough, and probably came too late in the conflict (over two weeks in), I do think that it shows promise. By giving up the rights to control and profit from the footage (and keep in mind that footage was not easy to come by during the conflict since journalists weren't allowed to enter into Gaza), AJ said to the world that they thought that news and journalism should not be dictated by the market, and that political efforts to suppress AJ's broadcasts in the West and elsewhere would not stop the images from Gaza from getting out.

Governments around the world continue to suppress the free media. Burma, Iran and China offer just a few examples of how effective governments have been at controlling their information environments, despite revolutions in communications technologies. If this model of releasing footage of events under a creative commons license becomes routine during conflicts (or other, hard-to-cover events), it may be a defining moment for the age of information. Governments will struggle to be able to suppress all of the different ways in which creative commons videos can be distributed. And while today videos are spread daily around the Internet, Al-Jazeera's viral footage would offer a marked difference given that it comes with a certain level of respect and authenticity (AJ was ranked as the 5th most influential brand in the world in 2005, prior to the launch of AJE).

Hopefully, other international news outlets will follow suit. The combined potential of BBC World Service and the Al-Jazeera Networks raw footage, and the possibilities of mashing the two together, would be a bold step in the direction of fostering a truly global and democratic communications ecology.

Finally, Qtel, Qatar's cell phone provider, announced today a their Mozaic Mobile TV service, offering programming from up to 23 channels available to be streamed to any of its mobile phones.

"The full range of International and Arabic channels includes news (Al Jazeera and Al Jazeera English, CNN International, CNBC Europe and CNBC Arabiya and BBC World), Islamic (Iqra), sports (ESPN Europe, ART Sports Channels, and AlKaas), entertainment (AsianNet, B4U Music, Al Safwa, Arabic Series Channel and Rotana Moussica) and children’s television (Cartoon Networks, Boomerang, Al Jazeera Children’s Channel)."

Now, that's broadcasting 2.0.

Iran's PressTV plays up the threat of Israel

2009-02-15T12:12:00.000-08:00

Last week, PressTV.com visitors saw a line up of headlines discussing Israel's supposedly eminent attack on Iran. One headline even stated that Israeli warlord vows face-off with Iran: meaning Israeli PM candidate, Benjamin Netanyahu who stated that "[Iran] will not be armed with a nuclear weapon… It includes everything that is necessary to make this statement come true." PressTV states that Netanyahu "is currently facing war crime charges in Gaza," citing Israel's use of white phosphorous and also Netanyahu's promise to spread Israeli settlements. The story is sure to mention Iran's party line that it is not trying to obtain nuke's:

"Israel, the sole nuclear power in the Middle East, accuses Tehran of seeking nuclear weaponry while the UN nuclear watchdog, in its Sept. 15 report on Iran, declared that it could not find any 'components of a nuclear weapon' or 'related nuclear physics studies' in the country. Western powers accuse Iran, a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), of attempting to develop nuclear weaponry. Iran, however, says its nuclear program is for peaceful energy purposes and that it has the right to the technology already in the hands of many other nations including Israel - which is not a signatory NPT and yet houses the Middle East's sole nuclear arsenal."

Another related article that week quotes Aaron David Miller, the US State Department's top analyst in the 1980s, in saying that "Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu will be able to convince President Barack Obama that a military attack is the only solution to the Iranian nuclear issue."

"The Israelis will be pushing [Washington] to ensure that Iran never gets to that point and failing that, they will consider a military strike. It need not be conclusive or threatening, but it will be very serious and ... scare the daylights out of the president that unless the international community mobilizes to address the situation, the Israelis will," says Miller.

And yet another article entitled New Obama challenge: Rise of Israeli hawks threatens that a Netanyahu victory could hinder Obama's Middle East plans;

"Analysts fear that a possible power shift in the Israeli government in favor of hawks would foil US plans for the Middle East peace."

All these articles attempt to persuade American readers that a Netanyahu victory would be detrimental to Obama's mid-east peace plan. In fact, PressTV posted an article on Saturday that a Gallup poll released on Friday shows that 56% of Americans are of the opinion that the United States should engage in direct diplomacy with Iran. It seems that PressTV is trying to play to the opinions of this 56% and persude them that Israel is not acting in their best interest. A definite agenda can be seen in the headlines of the week.

Former Taliban leader hearts his iPhone

2009-02-13T16:25:00.000-08:00

Okay, so let's file this under stories that I couldn't have made up if I tried. AJE's Hamish Macdonald is reporting that Mullah Zaif, the Taliban's former ambassador to Pakistan who is now under virtual house-arrest on the outskirts of Kabul, is addicted to his iPhone. Some background on Zaeef: "Zaeef became well known on Western television during the interim period between the Sept. 11 attacks and the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. He held multiple news conferences in which he both condemned the terrorist attacks and insisted that Usama bin Laden, then a guest of the Taliban, was not responsible. He then spent more than three years in U.S. custody, including significant time at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, before being freed in 2005."

Does this mean that Apple is less likely to be a target of terrorism? And I wonder if the Taliban has their own iPhone applications? Or, as Macdonald jokes, a "Taliban Twitter."

Telesur Cranks Up the Coverage

2009-02-13T14:50:00.000-08:00

As Venezuelans get ready to vote on Sunday for the second time in less than 2 years on a constitutional amendment that would allow Chavez to run for office indefinitely, Telesur has been cranking up the coverage. Today’s coverage of a rally with Chavez traveling through a sea of red as supporters talk about why they plan to vote yes for the amendment, has been repeated several times in the last few weeks. The Chavez government has organized these color-coordinated rallies all over the country to try to build support for the amendment.

Meanwhile Telesur has mostly avoided coverage of opposition rallies, student protests, and alleged suppression by the government of opposition groups, which has been on the front pages of the main Venezuelan newspapers (El Universal and El Nacional). Telesur did air an interview with Chavez this week in which he said the government would oppose dissident groups which had “international funding” and had “violent plans” to disrupt the referendum.

Telesur has also been running a half hour special on the amendment with experts from Bolivia, Spain, and Venezuela describing how the amendment would actually be advancing Venezuelan democracy. The special describes North American democracy as being corrupted by the excesses of capitalism, and says the purest forms of democracy are being practiced in Europe. It also claims that there are EU member states which allow for indefinite election of their presidents. I haven’t figured out which ones those are yet, but this is part of the way Telesur is framing the amendment as evidence of a true democracy where the constitution can be changed according to the people’s will, rather than as an attempt to consolidate power as many of Chavez’s opponents suspect.

Saying the Unspoken: The Power of Proxy Communicators

2009-02-12T00:34:00.000-08:00

On the right hand side of Al Manar’s website are op-ed pieces and interviews with well-known intellectuals and activists. There are interviews with Noam Chomsky and lawyer Dr. Franklin Lamb. There are also opinion pieces by economist Michael J. Mandel, jazz musician and activist Gilad Atzmon and Palestinian activist Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi. These voices are highly critical of the U.S. and Israel and take the political stance that Al-Manar seems reluctant to make in their news articles. It appears that Al Manar’s strategy is to provide less biased reporting of current events and provide op-ed pieces by more legitimate voices to provide the color and support Al Manar’s political agenda.

Where's Obama?

2009-02-11T20:28:00.000-08:00

Compared to other networks there are surprisingly few images (photos or video) of Barack Obama broadcast on Telesur, and very limited coverage of Obama’s administration so far, both on the website and live channel. Telesur makes clear that its mission is to focus on issues of significance to Latin America and to skew away from U.S.-centric reporting. Still, for a station as conscious of image and personality as Telesur, it seems like part of an overall editorial policy. The policy could be a response to Obama’s popularity in Latin America, which is extremely high according to a BBC world service poll taken around the time of the inauguration.

In comparison, pictures of Bush and key members of his administration appeared often on Telesur, especially on the website, in articles critical of his policies. Ironically, Bush’s unpopularity may have been good for business for the Chavez administration, while, based on the cold shoulder he’s gotten so far in coverage, Obama may be bad for business.

While Obama has been nowhere to be found recently on the Telesur site, CNN en Espanol has kept a running story called “The First 100 Days of Obama” on its website. Other international broadcasters like Press TV, Russia Today and Al Jazeera English also seem to show Obama more frequently, so this may be unique to Telesur for the moment.

Al Manar: Radically Objective?

2009-02-11T20:17:00.000-08:00

My initial impression of the English page of the Al Manar TV’s website is that it is does not match the extremely negative image of Al Manar. Hezbollah describes to Al Manar, its 24-hour satellite television network as “psychological warfare against the Zionist enemy,” and Al Manar has been banned in much of Europe and the Americas. I will discuss Al Manar TV’s Arabic programming in the following weeks but first wanted to delve into the website’s English content.

There are certain obvious features of propaganda: throughout the website, Israel is referred to as the Zionist entity. Additionally, at the very top of the page, website visitors are greeted with the words “Our Martyrs are Great Men” along with images of fallen leaders of Hezbollah. There are also peculiar polling questions, asking website visitors loaded questions about their opinion about the situation in Gaza.

However, much of the site content is characterized by balance and some semblance of neutrality, particularly when reporting on U.S. current events. Articles about Obama’s economic plan, the closing of Guantanamo, and the appointments of Hilary Clinton and Richard Holbrooke all provided multiple opinions when needed and lacked any obvious insertion of opinion. Even articles about Israel’s parliamentary elections are highly detailed and informative, with multiple viewpoints such as direct quotes from Israeli politicians as well as exit poll data.

In light of the fact that Al Manar’s English content is more moderate than expected, I will continue to monitor the English website to compare it with Al Manar’s Arabic television programming.

Ahmadinejad: 'Obama unlikely to succeed with his changes'

2009-02-11T19:52:00.000-08:00

From Iran's PressTV:

"Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says it is unlikely that US President Barack Obama will be allowed to bring change to the US." In a telephone conversation with his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez on Wednesday, Ahmadinejad said 'change' has been the motto of the new US President but it is unlikely that Zionist leaders and the main players in the world power structure would allow Obama to bring any change to the United States.

Does this mean PressTV does not think Obama is a main player in the world power structure?

Russia Today Roundup - February 11, 2008

2009-02-11T16:35:00.000-08:00

Note: Expect a weekly roundup of RT's headlines each Wednesday. All articles selected will come from their homepage. Hopefully over time this feature will aid in determining what the purposes of RT really are.

U.S./Iran. Summary - RT relies on respected experts (Ben Cohen and Richard Bulliet) to report that Obama's focus on proliferation and terrorism risks undermining his campaign promise to begin dialogue with Iran. Unlike many of the RT articles that cast the U.S. in a negative light, RT adopts a moderate approach to this issue. This is most likely attributed to the fact that Russia's economy welcomes a rapprochement between the two nations since it would open more doors for trade.
Vegas Mayor beefing with Obama. Summary - Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodwin is demands that President Obama issue a retraction for disparaging his city by criticizing Wells Fargo executive's plans for a corporate weekend in Vegas. Now, this is more like it. Another example of a non-story being treated like a story. Not much more needed to be said about this.
Ukrainian White House is falling apart. Summary - a Ukrainian mansion modeled after the White House is now a crumbling school building. The article quotes students who hope that Obama will send funding to Ukraine to rebuild the school. More pressing news.
HRW on Guest Worker Abuse. Summary - a new report from Human Rights Watch details increasing abuse directed towards guest workers in Russia. This is an interesting read that details growing xenophobia in Russia, in large part due to economic decline. It should be noted that the last word goes to a young Russian nationalist who criticizes HRW for being hypocritical since it is based in America and the U.S./Mexican border is far worse. This reporting is deceptive as HRW is one of the U.S. government's harshest critics.
Pentagon Public Diplomacy?. Summary - $4.7 billion and 27,000 new employees to revamp the Pentagon's image. This featured article contains the wit that I've come to expect from RT. The article ends with the following,

This year, the Pentagon will employ 27,000 people just for recruitment, advertising and PR - almost as many as the total 30,000-person work force in the State Department. Indeed, 27,000 more jobs is not bad news. But the question is whether it is a sector where jobs need to be created and whether this news will be welcomed by American taxpayers.

NHK World? Not so much....

2009-02-11T14:06:00.001-08:00

Recently re-launched NHK World (of the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation) may want to reconsider the "World" part of its name. While we had previously speculated about what NHK World niche would be, after spending some time on their website, I'm not sure if they know either.

I assumed that NHK World would try to focus on news related to the global economy given Japan's heightened interest and strength in economic issues. Think again. There is not a single story about the Congressional Bailout, which is making headlines on all other broadcasters (even Press TV thinks this is news worthy). Nor is their a reference to the state of the global economy more broadly, something that is of heightened relevance given the continued global economic decline.

The top story listed on the homepage, and I couldn't even make this stuff up if I wanted to, is an announcement for a European conference on protectionism that will take place in March. So much for "opening a new window on the world's most exciting region, Asia" (via the press release announcing the relaunching of NHK World).

Notably lacking from the top stories is any mention of anything going on the Middle East. Nothing. News of the Israeli election results is at least among the top stories at Russia Today, AJE, Press Tv, and everywhere else I've looked. Most broadcasters also are still keeping close tabs on Gaza (like the resumption of UN aid, BBC), general Arab reactions to the Israeli elections (VOA), and the possible warming of ties between the US and Iran (Russia Today), not too mention today's attacks in Iraq (AJE). NHK World? Not interested. Even after a thorough exploration of all of the articles posted on the website (don't give me too much credit, there really aren't that many), there is little mention of the Middle East, and when there is, the stories are less informative that a Reuters newswire. There certainly is not a unique Japanese perspective offered on global events, or a window opened to Japanese culture or society. Also lacking, sans a very short story about Sudan, is NHK World's coverage of the entire African continent. This is despite today's swearing in of Zimbabwe's new Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, which even the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation found interesting. Also, the website is about as high-tech as this blog (no offense intended to Blogger).

I'm not writing this to trash NHK World, or at least that wasn't my initial intent. NHK World claims to want to compete with global news giants such as CNN and the BBC, and I was thus genuinely intrigued to see what they would bring to the broadcasting table. It may be the case that the actual broadcasting is far superior to the content on the website, though that seems to beg some larger questions of NHK's understanding of today's media environment.