Saudi Arabia has launched an all-news satellite television channel to present a new image of the Gulf Arab kingdom.
| "Ta-daaa! It's showtime!" |
Ikhbariya, inaugurated on Sunday by the kingdom's first female news presenter, will broadcast in Arabic for 12 hours a day before stepping up to round-the-clock programming, director Muhammad Barayan told Reuters. "We want to tell the world about our country, to give a new image," he said. "The American media... put out things about Saudi Arabia that are not true - like that Saudi Arabia is not fighting fundamentalists."
| It's not that they're not fighting fundamentalists. It's that they're all fundamentalists. |
Critics say the kingdom fuelled "militancy" by promoting anti-Western sentiment in schools, giving "radical" clerics a platform and failing to stem the flow of funds to "extremists". Saudi officials deny those charges.
| So where'd they get the dough? And where'd they get the Soddy krazed killers and controllers and runners? Just coincidence, huh? |
Riyadh is battling a wave of attacks by suspected insurgents believed linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida group. Bomb attacks have killed more than 50 people since May 2003.
| Prior to that they didn't give a rat's hindquarter. Now they still try and bribe their way out of it when given half a chance... |
Barayan said the state-owned channel would correct false perceptions, including some about the role of Saudi women. Breaking new ground in the deeply conservative Muslim kingdom, Sunday's opening news bulletin was delivered by female presenter Buthaina al-Nasr, modestly dressed in black headscarf and white jacket.
| Did the religious cops show up and haul her off on camera? |
"Some of the things they say about women in our country aren't right.
| Y'mean, like they're breeding stock? |
This channel will have women reading the news and will also discuss social issues related to women," he said.
| Like whether they can be divorced by instant messaging? |
Saudi Arabia already has three terrestrial television channels, including one English-language station. But most Saudis ignore them in favour of livelier programmes aired by Arab satellite channels Al-Jazeera in neighbouring Qatar and Al-Arabiya in Dubai. Although satellite television has never been formally legalised in Saudi Arabia it is widely watched across the country. Al-Jazeera is a favourite even though its correspondents have been barred by the Saudi government which was angered by some of its reports. Businessman Hassan al-Hussaini said although the new channel was likely to transmit the same government-approved news as existing channels, its rolling news format and slicker presentation would attract viewers - at least in the kingdom. "If you want local Saudi news, the only choice right now is the staid, all-male Channel One. This will be a bit more pleasant and accessible," he said. |