Does Lebanon Really Need Another News Channel?
The new 24-hour news channel by Hariri’s Future TV seems like a pointless venture.
Illustration: beirutspring.com
I consider myself a news junkie. I’m obsessed with keeping track of the most insignificant of Lebanese developments. I follow trivial statements by the most obscure of Lebanese figures, and I have satellite TV. But even I can’t see how another all-news Future TV can benefit me.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s always nice to have more news, but I just can’t see what need this station is filling and to whom it is aimed. It’s neither ground-breakingly ambitious (The project Manager, Nadim el Munla conceded that its funding is very modest compared to Aljazeera or Alarabiya), nor is it pure local news (“It will cover international news while focusing on Lebanon” he said).
Let’s face it, there are tons of good Arabic satellite news channels out there, and the only reason we watch Lebanese news channels like LBC, Future and OTV is because we want to hear the stuff no one else talks about, like whom Wael Abou Faour insulted, whom the Patriarch had for lunch and what new theory Wi’am wahhab came up with. Hardly Satellite Channel material.
There is however one reason that could justify such a new channel.
Maybe the folks at Future TV realized that their reputation for objectivity is bottom low, and that by launching a new “serious” news channel, they could access both the market for serious news and that for partisan peddling. If that is the case, it would be a step in the right direction and a cause for celebration.
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Hello, my name is Mustapha and I blog in The Beirut Spring about Lebanese society and politics. I started in February 2005 after the killing of P.M. Rafik Hariri.
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This news channel is an excellent idea because it will:
1- Employ young Lebanese, so they’ll stay in Lebanon instead of leaving outside.
2- Try to reach the Arab World and maybe show to all Arabs and Muslims the danger of Hizz and the Safavid dream behind it.
Well Mustapha, as an active media person, you could be playing an interesting role in this channel. Have you thought about it? Imagine a new TV program that you’ll call Beirut Spring and that will connect young Lebanese from abroad with Lebanon!
Great comment Sam!
I agree with Sam that a news channel is agreat idea! Here are my reasons:
1. Several of my Muslim friends when I say Future TV, they reply look at its programs (like if the other programs are not good make the news less credible!) So, a news channel has no baggage and can look at as a more credible channel!
2. We need to counter the propaganda of Al-Jazeerah!
I don’t think that a news channel is going to solve the imigration problem, nor will it be a good channel if it’s exclusively anti-hezb, and finaly it will not counter Al Jazeera who has its proper audience.
I think it’s a waste of time and money to exactly give more air time to assholes that are not meant to be shown on TV (Wahhab, fatfat,pakradoni… All the caste of mini puppets)
I think the news channel that we have are more than enough, furthermore they should shorten their morning/noon/night/flash news to 15 minutes a day and stop messing with the lebanese people already stupid minds.
News in Lebanon is becoming extremly ridiculous, and journalists are worse than ever, reporting every fart that comes out from every single retarded in the country.
I think it’s a splendid idea.
We, in the Middle East know very well how the Media affects our region. I’m glad to see a Lebanese Channel going International 24/7 to be categorized next to France24, CNN, the BBC, and Al Jazeera International.
How about adding an RSS feed to almustaqbal newspaper online first? Wouldn’t that be more fruitful?
I cannot but totally agree with your thoughts on the new all-news channel. I just want to add that the ad campaign for the new channel is not only hideous but also immoral. How can they show a kid, barely 9 or 10, with a Kalashnikov in the foreground and claim that the new news channel would rationalize his thoughts and convince him not to engage in an armed struggle!
Please visit http://www.latimes.com/babylon it’s a new blog on the Middle-East.
[...] • A few days ago, I wrote that I was skeptical of the new Future TV channel • In July of 2005, I spoke of the difficulty of rebranding Dr. Samir Geagea to Future TV’s core audience • In November of 2006, I followed up and covered Al-Arabiya’s documentary of Dr. Geagea, which I thought was a remarkable success. [...]
[...] Wa3ad.org Copying Beirutspring.com Posts It Just came to my attentions (thanks Moussa) that wa3ad.org, a pro-Hezbollah portal is copying some of my posts. So far, they took the post where I criticized the upcoming 24-hour Future TV channel, and the one where I profiled Robert Ghanem. [...]