Al Mayadeen

Al Mayadeen
Launched 11 June 2012
Network Al Mayadeen Satellite Media Network
Slogan Reality As It Is
Country Lebanon
Language Arabic
Headquarters Beirut
Website Al Mayadeen TV
Availability
Satellite
Arabsat Channel 5C
Eutelsat Channel 25C
Streaming media
Al Mayadeen Live Free

Al Mayadeen (Arabic: الميادين‎; English: Public Squares) is a pan-Arabist satellite television channel launched on 11 June 2012 in Lebanon.[1] The channel, claims Gulf-supported media, aims at reducing the influence of the Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya networks, both funded by oil-rich Sunni Arab countries in the Persian Gulf.[1] However, it is said to plan to present an alternative to mainstream Arab satellite media, largely dominated by these two channels.[2] All-news Arab TV news channel BBC Arabic Television and Sky News Arabia are other competitors of the channel.[3]

Ownership and offices

The channel is part of Al Mayadeen satellite media network, including a production company, a radio station, a website, an advertising company and other media-related projects.[4] It is stated that the owners of the channel are anonymous Arab businessmen.[5] There are speculations about the funding of the channel. Western media claim that the channel is a propaganda platform for Iran and Hezbollah and is funded by them.[1] Omar Ibhais, a freelance Lebanese TV producer, argued that the channel is a joint venture between the Iranians and Rami Makhlouf, cousin of Syrian President Bashar Assad.[6] However, Ghassan bin Jiddo, director of the channel, denied these claims and stated that the channel is funded by Arab businessmen whose identity he would not disclose.[1]

The headquarters of the channel are in Beirut.[7] It has a wide-ranging news network and three regional offices, one in Tunisia, another in Cairo with three reporters and a big studio, and a third in Tehran.[5]

Staff

Ghassan bin Jiddo is the head of the board of directors and program director of the channel.[5] He is the former head of Al Jazeera’s Iran and Beirut offices and a former talk show host in the channel.[4][8] He resigned from the Qatar-based Al Jazeera in 2011, criticizing its reporting of the Syrian civil war.[1] Jiddo clearly accused Al Jazeera of deviating from the professional broadcasting standards, emphasizing that Al Mayadeen would remain objective and unbiased.[2] Nayef Krayem, the owner of the Lebanon-based Al Ittihad TV and former director of the Hezbollah-affiliated Al Manar TV, was designated as the general manager of the channel,[9] but he resigned one month before its launch.

The staff of the channel include Lebanese journalists such as Sami Kulaib,[10] Ali Hashem, the former Al Jazeera war correspondent, who resigned from the Qatari channel for claims it refused to broadcast footage of militants on the Lebanese Syrian borders in the early days of the Syrian uprising,[4][8] Zahi Wehbe,[11] Lina Zahreddine, Lana Mudawwar, Muhammad Alloush, Ahmad Abu Ali and Dina Zarkat. Additionally, two Syrian journalists, Ramia Ibrahim and Futoun Abbasi, and two Palestinian journalists Kamal Khalaf and Ahmad Sobh as well as Yemeni Mona Safwan are also among its staff.[5] Like Jiddo, most of the channel's staff are the former Al Jazeera correspondents and editors.[12] George Galloway, a British MP, is a presenter for the channel.[13][14]

The channel has a network of reporters in Palestine (specifically, in Gaza and Ramallah) and also, in Jerusalem.[5] Their task is reported to provide the channel with a daily news section in the news broadcast entitled “A Window Into Palestine.”[5] In addition, there are reporters of the channel in Amman, Tripoli, Rabat, Khartoum, Mauritania and Comoros.[5] The correspondent of the channel in Damascus was withdrawn in April 2014.[15]

Omar Abdel Qader, a Syrian cameraman working for Al Mayadeen, was killed by a sniper during clashes in Deir Ezzor on 8 March 2014.[16]

Programming

Al Mayadeen is on air for 24 hours per day.[17] As of September 2013, the channel had ten daily news reports and nearly 17 distinct programs.[17] One of its programs is A Free Word, a show hosted by George Galloway.[18] The channel had aired a program, namely Hadeeth Dimashq (meaning "Damascus dialogue” in English), on the Syrian affairs until April 2014 when it was ceased.[15]

Political alignment

The name of the channel, Al Mayadeen, means "the squares" in English, indicating its objective "to provide coverage for the Arab popular actions on the squares of change in the context of the Arab spring revolutions".[19] The channel argues that it provides journalism, which is “committed to nationalist, pan-Arab and humanitarian issues within the template of professional journalistic objectivity.”[20] In addition, it presents itself as a “free and independent media project” with 500 staff and reporters in Arab and Western capitals.[5] Its slogan is “Reality as it is” and its editorial policy emphasizes that Palestine and resistance movements wherever they are found are its point of reference.[5] It was also stated that the Palestinian cause is the channel's centerpiece.[21] On the other hand, It is also argued by France 24 and Mohammed Al Jazairy of Asharq Alawsat that Al Mayadeen represents the latest expansion of Iran, Syria and Hezbollah in the field of media.[9][12] It is further claimed by Zeina Karam of the Associated Press that the channel's close ally in Lebanon is the powerful Shiite militant group Hezbollah.[22]

Al Mayadeen prefers to refer to the rebels as "terrorists," and to the actions of the Syrian government against the rebels as "cleansing" when reporting the Syrian civil war.[23] Following its first year of broadcast the channel began to be known by Matthew Keys as "anti-Al Jazeera".[24]

Activities

Al Mayadeen TV participated in the International Radio and Television Festival held in Havana City, Cuba, in October 2013.[17]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Karam, Zeina (11 June 2012). "New pan-Arab satellite channel goes on air". AP. Associate Press. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Farrell, Shane (6 June 2012). "Al Mayadeen: Political pandering or objective media?". Now Lebanon. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  3. ↑ "New pan-Arab TV satellite channel goes on air". Denver Post. 11 June 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Al Mayadeen Satellite Channel to be launched". ArabAD. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 "Al Mayadeen TV: New Kid on the Block". Al Akhbar. 4 June 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  6. ↑ "‘Anti-Al Jazeera’ channel Al Mayadeen goes on air". France 24. 12 June 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  7. ↑ "The curious CV of a former BBC Arabic journalist". BBC Watch. 3 May 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "The world’s most influential Arabs". Arabian Business. 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Al Jazairy, Mohammed (14 June 2012). "Al Mayadeen: The last attempt to revive pro-Assad media". Asharq Alawsat. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
  10. ↑ "Ex-Al Jazeera anchor to be ministry spokesperson". Gulf News. 11 December 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  11. ↑ al Abdelhady, Zeina (2 June 2012). "Lebanese poet Zahi Wehbe shares his passion for poetry". Al Shorfa. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "War of the remote controls: new Arab TV channel launches to challenge Al-Jazeera". France 24. 11 June 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  13. ↑ Patrick Kingsley "The TV stations where George Galloway and Julian Assange are stars", The Guardian, 28 August 2012 Retrieved 3 November 2013
  14. ↑ Tim Walker "What George Galloway neglected to mention in Syria debate", The Telegraph, 1 September 2013 Retrieved 3 November 2013
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Nazeer Rida (14 April 2014). "Al Mayadeen channel withdraws Damascus correspondent". Asharq Alawsat. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  16. ↑ Syrian journalist killed covering fighting: Al-Mayadeen TV Daily Star, 9 March 2014
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 "Al Mayadeen TV: An Alternative against the Mass Media Power". Radio Rebelde. 3 October 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  18. ↑ "British MP yells, "You make me sick!" at anti-Assad audience member on Islamist linked TV station". The Commentator. 2 September 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  19. ↑ Itani, Husam (22 June 2012). ""Mayadeen," the End". Al Hayat. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  20. ↑ Al Abdeh, Malik (October 2012). "The Media War in Syria". Al Majalla 1576: 18–22. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  21. ↑ Nicholas Noe; Walid Raad (28 September 2012). "Is a New Boss a New Line for Al Jazeera?". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  22. ↑ "New pan-Arab TV satellite channel goes on air". US News. 11 June 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  23. ↑ "Executive Summary". Syria Cyber Watch. 25 November 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  24. ↑ Matthew Keys (25 September 2013). "Lebanese TV channel lands on-camera interview with Syrian Electronic Army hackers". The Desk. Retrieved 3 October 2013.

External links