International News Explosion
When you check into a hotel room anywhere in the world, chances are you will have CNN-International. The network launched in 1985, brining 24-hour news programming in English to every corner of the earth, currently reaching 200 million households and hotel rooms in over 200 countries.
Outside of BBC, there wasn’t much competition. Now, it appears a 24-hour news channel explosion is underway:
CNN may have started it all, but international 24-hour television news is rapidly expanding as a bevy of nations are kicking off their own 24-hour multilanguage services, in what observers describe as a global battle of egos and ideas.
The TV news explosion has been most pronounced in the Muslim world, where, until 1996, broadcasts were strictly controlled by the state. Al Jazeera broke that mold, sending its signal out by satellite first throughout the region.
Al Jazeera is now broadcast regularly across the globe. Financed by the emir of Qatar, a nominal U.S. ally, Al Jazeera now has an English-language service and a robust Web site, and reaches an estimated 50 million people.
Here’s a run-down and some of what they’re discussing today:
Al-jazeera: "Mid-East expert admits: No proof of Iran nukes"
CNN International: "Brazilian Grand Prix: And so it ends"
BBC: "Chinese party unveils new leaders"
CCTV (China): "Moon orbiter, Chang’e I, sets to take off" (Sound familiar?)
And it’s not just ad revenue that some of these stations are seeking. There can be a real propoganda edge:
The success of Al Jazeera, abetted by the rapid expansion of communications satellites, was not lost on others — in particular, Iran.
Last July, Iran’s PressTV began English-language satellite broadcasts; Iranian officials said the global broadcasting effort is to counter the pro-Western bias of more established outlets.
"We are the target of global media war, and there is hardly any media delivering on its commitment," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a widely covered address marking the station’s launch. "The media are used by the domineering powers to occupy lands and people’s hearts."
In addition to Iran; France, Russia, and China have all joined the international news club — led by CNN and the BBC — in recent months and years.
Increasingly these new global networks have an anti-American edge. Earlier this year, the insurgent Islamic Army of Iraq went on the air with Al Zawraa — thanks in part to a cooperative Egypt that gave it satellite access.
Perhaps the most virulently anti-American outlet is Venezuela’s Telesur network. Launched In 2005 by Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, the network has been assiduously signing deals to have the station carried on cable carriers throughout Latin America. Telesur’s coverage promotes a left-wing bent. Recently Telesur was advertising a special documentary on Che Guevara, the communist guerilla.
Others think its all about good old-fashioned ego:
But Stephen Hess, media expert and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, tells NewsMax that propaganda is generally not the driving force behind these networks. His explanation for the explosion in global television news: "Ego. National ego visited through heads of state."
"I felt that particularly when I looked at the French plans. They want to play with the big nations. This is one way that you get there. You’re almost pushing your way in.
"Hey, what is France’s place in the world today," Hess says. "If we were recreating the Security Council of the United Nations and limiting it to the same people, would France be one of those countries?"
The new France 24 network, with a stated goal of matching CNN, BBC, and Al-Jazeera, launched its service last December. The network broadcasts in French and English, and has found cable and satellite carriers to take it to Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Washington D.C. area. As of Oct. 1, it was offering a trilingual Web site in English, French, and Arabic.
"This channel will not be anti-American," network chief Alain de Pouzilhac told The Washington Post upon its launch. "But this channel has to discover international news with French eyes, like CNN discovers international news with American eyes."
NOTE: While we debate the credibility of some of these new networks (Are they anti-American or just releasing an alternative, albeit reasonable perspective?), NewsMax (the source of this post) often receives a similar debate as to its fairness. Many consider the outlet to have a conservative bent.
