News: US-sponsored Middle East TV station reaps little success

Al-Hurra, or "The Free One" in Arabic, is what US media call "the centerpiece of a U.S. government campaign to spread democracy in the Middle East".

$350 million and four years after it began broadcasting, the station is widely regarded as a flop in the Arab world where it has struggled to attract viewers and to "overcome skepticism about its mission". [ed: ahum]
It has also been embarrassed by journalistic blunders. One news anchor greeted the station's predominantly Muslim audience on Easter by declaring, "Jesus is risen today!"
Al-Hurra also covered a December 2006 Holocaust-denial conference in Iran and aired an unedited hour-long speech by the leader of Hezbollah. (Full)


Source: The Road Daily
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