JEDDAH, 17 August 2006 — BBC World Service has started recruiting senior editorial staff for BBC Arabic Television to be launched next year.
According to Salah Negm, who has joined the channel as news editor, it will be initially recruiting output editors. “We’re aiming to be fast, modern in style and outlook. The new channel will maintain the values of accuracy, editorial independence, and impartiality, while balancing a wide diversity of views.
“BBC Arabic Television will have broad appeal — free from commercial, political and religious affiliations or pressures. We are now looking for the key senior staff to help us turn this vision into an exciting reality,” said Negm.
“The new channel will not simply be another satellite news station,” explains Negm. “It’s part of a wider vision to introduce a multimedia BBC Arabic Service — drawing on the great traditions and strengths of its radio and online operation to better serve audiences across the Arab world.”
BBC Arabic Television promises to supply high quality news and information. “Dynamic, relevant and modern, it will introduce to the Arab TV viewers all the values that made BBC Arabic Radio an icon in the region over nearly 70 years. It will explain the wider context of events for audiences in a region that is witnessing an extreme polarization in views and attitudes,” Negm added.
The BBC announced plans to launch an Arabic television operation in October last year as part of BBC World Service’s multimedia strategy for the next three years.
The BBC Arabic channel will present new challenges for Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya. Saudi journalists say competition will be good for the region.
“Whenever we have quality competition, it benefits us all,” said Khaled Batarfi, managing editor of Al-Madinah Arabic daily. “Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya have made a name for themselves in the Arab world. Yes, they have the benefit of being an Arab channel rather than being an ‘Arabized’ media outlet. But then, to have an institution as professional and quality-conscious as the BBC as a competitor means tough challenges.”
“The BBC,” Batarfi said earlier, “will put other TV channels in the region under a great deal of pressure. They will have to improve. They will have to be more objective and more accountable. As to who will be No. 1 in the months to come, it is for the viewers to decide, but the BBC certainly has huge credibility in the region.”
Batarfi thinks Al-Jazeera is the most-watched channel. “No doubt about that,” he said. “Even though there are a lot of question marks about many of its stands, it does currently rule the airwaves.”
In the Arab world, one or other pressure groups influence every TV channel and, as a result, objectivity is the first casualty. “That may be true,” said Samar Fatany, a Jeddah radio broadcaster. “But people in the region no longer depend on only one media outlet. Everybody knows that there are two sides to a story and if one channel is giving us one side, another channel will give the other side. People are not naive anymore. They have many options. They cannot be taken for a ride.”
When reaching a conclusion, Fatany herself watches at least four channels as well as some other media outlets. “I watch Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, CNN, BBC and even Fox News. That gives you the whole perspective. This is where a BBC Arabic Television will come in useful,” she said.
BBC World Television was keenly watched in the region during the Israeli war on Lebanon. But there were diverse opinions about the news channel’s objectivity. There were some who were upset with what they felt was the channel’s slant in news coverage of the war but there were others who loved Fergal Keane’s reporting from Qana and Bint Jbeil. “He was outstanding,” said a Saudi journalist who is a keen BBC World TV watcher. “Fergal gave us a real sense of what a war can do. He made me cry with his despatches,” she added.
Applications for the BBC Arabic Television vacancies can be made through www.bbc.co.uk/jobs. Other journalist and technical roles are to be advertised later this year.
