(February 14, 2004- )
Satellite TV channel brodcasting to 22 countries in the Middle East
Headquarters in Springfield, Virginia
Funded by the US government
Intended to counter anti-American bias of Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya
$652 million budget in 2006
Name translates as 'The Free One'

According to a Zogby International survey, 0% of Arabs used it as their primary source of news and less than 4% chose it as their second news source.
A printed message on the bottom of the screen referring to the founding of Israel as a 'catastrophe' aired for an hour.
It aired an hour-long speech by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah urging his followers to attack 'the Israeli enemy.'
It ran an interview with a Hamas leader who claimed the Holocaust never happened and aired uncritical coverage of an Iranian-sponsored conference of Holocaust deniers.
Personnel from the network admitted that stories air unscreened because none of the executives speak Arabic.
Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) asked, 'Why are American taxpayer dollars used to spread the hate, lies and propaganda of these nuts when our goal was to counter them?'

It is largely commercial-free.
After the revelations of anti-American and anti-Israeli stories being aired, it agreed to a review by an outside panel.
Given what it broadcasts, maybe we should be glad that Zogby shows no one is watching.

Credit: C. Fishel

http://www.amiannoying.com/view.aspx?ID=20454

E-mail Link to Friend | Report updates or corrections for this profile

For 2009, as of last week, Out of 34 Votes: 70.59% Annoying
In 2008, Out of 61 Votes: 75.41% Annoying
In 2007, Out of 66 Votes: 74.24% Annoying

• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 04]
• Hyphenated Names
• Known By a Single Name
• Look at Me, I'm with Saddam Hussein
• Middle East Conflict
• News
• Profiles 20251-20500 (Ranked: 20454)
• TV Networks
• War on Terrorism Players