A Newsman Breaks the Mold in Arab World

With a staff of 330, al-Arabiya broadcasts around-the-clock to tens of millions of viewers across four time zones. It was established in 2003 by the Middle East Broadcasting Co., a Saudi-owned media conglomerate that is one of the largest in the Arab world. From the start, its owners called al-Arabiya a more sober alternative to al-Jazeera, whose offices were bombed by the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan (by mistake, the Pentagon said; al-Jazeera insists otherwise). Al-Jazeera, with more staff and money, remains its biggest competition, even though others have emerged: the less-watched, U.S.-funded al-Hurra, Iran's al-Alam and, in planning, a BBC Arabic station, along with French and Russian channels.

To set it apart, al-Arabiya has struck a new look in news and programming. It has embraced business news and introduced a morning show, "al-Arabiya Morning," modeled on American broadcasts and long on arts, fashion and movies. It portrays itself as the region's CNN, in contrast to al-Jazeera's Fox News. Its operation is younger and sleeker than that of al-Jazeera, which remains at times quicker and harder-edge.

Al-Arabiya's critics, including some in its own newsroom, say style has come to subsume substance -- that redefining news has made it too timid and overly beholden to pressure from its Saudi benefactors.

"You don't watch a news channel to see fluff," said Muhannad Khatib, a senior anchor who left al-Arabiya after he said its management tried to force a politicized, pro-Saudi agenda into his news show. Khatib, who is not related to the executive editor, said he watches at least two al-Jazeera news bulletins a day. "I feel I'm not satisfied when I watch al-Arabiya. Something is missing."

Khatib, the executive editor, dismissed the talk. "It will take time," he said.

Silence followed, as if he were reassuring himself.

'Real Answers' to 'Real Questions'

Khatib is a big man who strides with a lumbering gait, shoulders slumped, through the ultramodern newsroom of al-Arabiya. Fluorescent lights run the length of glass columns, and banks of televisions give the room a frenetic feeling. At the edge of his cubicle -- modest, given his position -- is a screen broadcasting al-Jazeera.

Like many colleagues, he speaks with respect for al-Jazeera, founded in 1996. It broke taboos, he said -- angering nearly every Arab state and drawing a fervent following with its professional bulletins and freewheeling talk shows.

"But," he said, "that's not the issue anymore."

Khatib took a seat at his computer, editing the upcoming bulletins. He talked about the stories behind each headline: Iraq, Iran and, then, in an unusual choice of words, "the Palestinian territories." Rarely is that phrase heard in the region. It's usually Palestine, a word that can convey a sense of territory as well as justice. But Khatib, a Palestinian, seemed to be making a statement: that his phrase was less ideological, and that he wanted to avoid ideology as an editor.

"For 50 years, all Arabs have heard about is Israelis, Palestinians, Americans, Arab summits and so on, and nothing about real answers to the real questions of why he is poor, frustrated and unhappy with the level of health care and education for his kids," Khatib said. "These are the concerns of any human being and any Arab. But if you ask someone what he is concerned about most, he will tell you Jerusalem or Iraq, because you keep telling him this."

To him, the task is engaging viewers and bringing them different stories, far from traditional politics. He ticks off a wish list: more human interest pieces about, say, a solar eclipse or someone who lost 80 pounds. He wants reporters to get people to talk about sensitive issues rarely discussed in a socially conservative Arab world: drug abuse, prostitution and gay rights. What about victims of the avian flu, as a way of exploring health risks? He pursued that in Egypt in March, he said, but when his Cairo bureau chief tried to interview someone infected, authorities stonewalled. Two days passed without permission to visit the hospital in the Nile delta.