Saudi prince launches pan-Arab news channel

MANAMA — Billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal on Sunday launched a pan-Arab satellite news channel aimed at challenging established networks in the region.

From a studio lit in green and white, the Bahrain-based Alarab News Channel took to the air, leading with a story about Japanese hostage Kenji Goto, whom the Islamic State extremist group claimed in a video late Saturday to have beheaded.

Alarab is the latest player in the Arabic-language television market, after Qatar-subsidised Al Jazeera became the first regional news broadcaster 19 years ago.

It will also be a rival for Dubai-based Al Arabiya, established in 2003 and owned by Sheikh Waleed Al Ibrahim, a brother-in-law of Saudi Arabia's late King Fahd.

Prince Alwaleed also belongs to the Saudi royal family and is a nephew of King Abdullah, who died on January 23.

In a highly conservative Islamic kingdom, Prince Alwaleed, who holds no government rank, is unusual for his high profile and periodic comments about economic issues.

Critics have accused the established broadcasters of reflecting their owners' political views, especially during the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings against authoritarian regimes in the Middle East and North Africa.

Both long-running channels deny any slant in their coverage.

Jamal Khashoggi, Alarab's general manager, said the new channel will be even-handed.

"We are not going to take sides," he told AFP in an interview.

"I think a news channel should not have a political agenda... We should just be a news channel that provides accurate, objective information."

Khashoggi is a veteran Saudi journalist who was forced to step down from the helm of Saudi Arabia's Al Watan daily in 2010 after it ran an opinion column that angered religious conservatives.

He declined to reveal Alarab's budget but said the channel will have about 280 staff, including correspondents in 30 countries.

Riyadh will be the largest bureau with around 20 employees.

Khashoggi said Alarab could not be based in Saudi Arabia because the kingdom does not allow "independent" channels.

Mohammed El Oifi, a specialist in Arab media at Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris, said Alarab will have difficulty breaking the mould.

Arab viewers need their news channels to take a clear or even militant editorial line, he said, because they fill "a political function" in the absence of other forums for debate.

This is reflected in the marginal role of the "objective" BBC Arabic, he said.

That and similar channels such as Sky News Arabia have failed to develop the viewer loyalty of Al Arabiya and Al Jazeera, Oifi said.

"This is a very competitive market," Khashoggi said.