Propaganda Campaigns: You're Doing It Wrong

Turns out the Republicans' spin machine doesn't extend outside our borders.

The Washington Post has the story on Al-Hurra, a U.S. government-funded television network broadcasting in the Middle East and intended to be a competitor to Al-Jazeera, and how the network "is widely regarded as a flop in the Arab world, where it has struggled to attract viewers and overcome skepticism about its mission."

Well, that's to be expected, right? I'm sure it's all just because they hate America.

Or maybe not.

"Arabs sit in their homes in front of the television, and they surf like crazy," said Hisham Melhem, a Washington-based anchor for al-Arabiya, a Saudi-owned satellite TV network. "You rarely find someone who says they watch al-Hurra. It may be number 10 on their dial. But definitely not first, not second, not third, not fourth."

"They failed in finding their own niche, and they failed in presenting something different about America to the Arab world," he added. "It's a glitzy operation, a costly operation, with very little impact."

...

"Al-Hurra would have been the number one station in the Arab world had they done one-quarter of what they should have covered," [Jordanian journalist Salameh] Nematt said. "People say if it's an American station, nobody will watch it. That's crap. If it's an American station that does a good job, everybody will watch it."

Apparently shallow, thinly veiled partisan reporting didn't capture as many viewers abroad as it tends to here. Who would've thought? I guess the Fox News type of viewing demographic isn't quite as big over there.