Broadcasting in ‘their’ language: Middle Eastern and Western TV networks and their Audiences
3 November, 2007 (University of Cambridge)
Organised by the Centre for the Advanced Study of the Arab World (CASAW) and Cambridge Arab Media Programme (CAMP) of the Centre of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, University of Cambridge
Several Western networks namely France 24, Deutsche Welle, Russia Today and the three-year old American State Department TV station Al-Hurra have recently started beaming their off-shoot Arabic-speaking Channels to the public. They will be soon followed by the BBC-Arabic TV which is expected to commence broadcasting towards the end of this year. The spot light is focused on the Middle East and competition for a larger share in the Arab market is tremendous. Their competitors are the numerous Arabic stations which broadcast news and events 24 hours of the day.
In contrast to the burgeoning of non-Arabic stations that broadcast in Arabic, Al-Jazeera launched its English sister channel in November 2006. Proposals for launching other (global) English-speaking Arabic channels are currently being floated in the Middle East. An Iranian English-speaking channel, Press TV, which began broadcasting in July 2007, is aimed at a mainly Western audience.
A common statement put forward by the creators of almost all of these channels is that ‘their’ image and views are miss-represented or miss-understood by the West. All are anxious to put across a ‘real and truthful’ perception of themselves and policies to the ‘other’. Yet the rise of this criss-crossing broadcasting poses various questions. The question of the political backdrop, national, regional or global, of each of these new media stands as an initial key entry-point for the contextualisation of this phenomenon. Central to this perception is the impact that this new media has on the public. In particular global-media and broadcasting has a bearing on the issues of culture and identity in the Arab world and Iran. The impact of the Western media in the region has fuelled the internal Arab and Iranian debate on the preservation of national identity, culture and religious traditions in the face of this ‘cultural invasion’ from the West. To have Western values, perceptions and ideology reproduced in local languages will likely provoke further anxiety. Also, questions about the potential effect of English-speaking Middle Eastern channels on the global media scene, and Western perceptions of the Middle East, are central to the discussion.
This conference brings together media experts, senior executives from these channels and academics. The aim of this conference is to explore these questions and other related issues concerning the impact and influence of Western media on the Middle East. This is the first conference of its kind and it will focus on this new phenomenon. In doing so it will open up wider discussion in years to come.
All enquires should be directed to the Centre of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 9DA.
Tel: 01223 335103; Fax: 01223 335110 and Email:
The programme is available to download in MS Word format here: Conference_Programme_-_3_November_2007.doc
